Page 807 - Week 03 - Thursday, 2 April 2020
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governments in recent times would ever be in place in normal circumstances, and that they must be removed once we move beyond this public health emergency.
I need to be clear with everyone, though, that the best advice available to the national cabinet is that we are going to be in this situation for some time, as the Prime Minister has said multiple times. There is no quick fix to this and, ultimately, unless there is a vaccine or a significant proportion—at least 60 per cent—of the world population contracts the virus and develops a degree of immunity to it, we are going to be living with this situation. So it is a long haul and the measures that we put in place need to be proportionate and sustainable. That is the battle and the balance that the national cabinet grapples with every single day. It is not an easy task; I want to assure everyone of that.
I note the goodwill, collaboration and cooperation that is being demonstrated in the national cabinet, and all of the working bodies reporting to that overarching decision-making body of the federation are working incredibly hard. I want to take the opportunity today to acknowledge all our public servants, who are working sometimes to extraordinarily tight time frames and not in ideal circumstances. They are having to conduct meetings via telephone or telepresence with technology in a national broadband network that is sometimes not meeting their needs and the level of demand. These are challenging circumstances for everyone. People are tired; people are emotional; people are concerned. I understand that, and we will continue to work methodically and calmly through this crisis.
The invitation that I have previously extended to the Leader of the Opposition and to others is that, at any point, any suggestions are welcome. I cannot promise that I will adopt everything that people suggest, but at no point have I said that suggestions are not welcome. I want to make that clear and public now so that there is no confusion at all. But I cannot share the agenda of the national cabinet or the deliberations of the national cabinet. There are no oppositions involved in the national cabinet, at the federal level or in any other state or territory; I need to be clear about that.
The opposition’s ideas and suggestions are always welcome, but I cannot promise that they will all be adopted either locally or by the national cabinet. That is a fact and a reality of the situation we find ourselves in. Governments have to govern, but we are seeking to do so as collaboratively as possible. As I have said, the interests of the Liberal Party are very well represented in the national cabinet on all these national issues, and most of these issues are nationwide. There might be slight differences in terms of their local application, but the issues that we are dealing with in relation to commercial tenancies and residential tenancies are the same as all of the other states and territories. Through this process, with governments working together, we are seeking to find a way through this. I commend my amendment to Mr Coe’s amendment and signal that should that be supported we will then support the amended amendment and have an agreed bill.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (4.42): The Greens will be pleased to support Mr Coe’s amendment today, along with the Chief Minister’s amendment to Mr Coe’s amendment. We will be supporting both of the proposed amendments. As Ms Le Couteur touched on this morning, and I think the phrase has been used a
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