Page 1248 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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accurate information and factual advice regarding COVID-19, and that wilfully misrepresenting or withholding information is reckless and dangerous;
(2) thanks the Canberra community for their responsible behaviour and for working with the authorities, which has directly contributed to the ACT’s success in managing the COVID-19 pandemic and to keeping family, friends, workmates and neighbours safe; and
(3) notes the ACT Government and Chief Health Officer will continue to provide regular updates to the community through all available and appropriate means, including regular media briefings, online, telephone, direct in-person contact to assist in compliance and safety, and regular distribution of information to all households.”.
Canberra is in the strong position that we are in because we acted early, because we listened to expert advice and because we put in place evidence-based public health measures. It is for these reasons that we have effectively suppressed the spread of the virus.
In Australia in the last week there have been 89 new cases. There are still people in hospital, there are still people in intensive care and there are still people on ventilators. There will be new cases each and every day as we move forward. The risks associated with the spread of the virus are going to increase from this point as restrictions ease.
The consistent advice of the AHPPC, the pre-eminent body of public health experts in this nation, has been to have a gradual easing of restrictions. This was endorsed by the national cabinet, comprising the Prime Minister and the leaders of all states and territories, and a national plan was put forward. The ACT has worked within that national plan. On one issue, New South Wales has not. That issue relates to, apparently, the only matter that concerns the Leader of the Opposition.
The motion that the Leader of the Opposition put forward contains numerous factual errors which show a concerning lack of awareness about the situation. This pandemic is not over. We have a responsibility to reopen activities responsibly and safely without compromising the hard work of this community. In this, it remains fundamental that we continue to listen to the advice of health experts, not paid lobbyists or opposition politicians looking to pick a fight to get themselves in the news. We follow the advice of health experts as we reopen our economy and our society, to avoid future waves of this virus and being forced to return to more stringent restrictions, as has been the case in other cities and other countries.
In relation to the ACT’s approach, it has differed from New South Wales’s in many ways. The ACT did not follow New South Wales’s stay at home directions. The ACT did not fine people for sitting alone in public parks or for buying a kebab after going for a run, like New South Wales did. The ACT government and the ACT rules allowed people to see their mum on Mother’s Day when New South Wales did not.
Some of the matters that Mr Coe outlined concerns about, about a venue being able to have 50 people for a funeral and 20 for a wedding, are exactly the same as in New South Wales. New South Wales has not reopened gyms and indoor fitness centres and
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