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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-03-24 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

Coronavirus

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:04): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: My ministerial statement today is about working together to slow the spread of the coronavirus and save lives. I begin with an appeal to all South Australians to do the right things, the required things, the responsible things and the respectful things that recognise the right of all of us to be protected from the spread of this insidious virus because no-one deserves to die from this coronavirus. No student deserves to lose a whole year of education from this coronavirus. No business deserves to go under. No-one deserves to lose his or her job.

To minimise such consequences, all South Australians must do their bit. I thank all those who are adhering to measures already recommended or required, from the basics of practising good hygiene to social distancing and self-isolation; however, there are some who have continued to ignore these things. By doing so, they risk the lives of the older and more vulnerable of their fellow citizens in particular. They jeopardise the measures being taken to minimise the health and economic impacts on all of us. Unless we all take our responsibility seriously and think at all times about how we can reduce risks to others, government measures will not be enough.

My government will continue to follow the advice of our leading medical experts. So far, this has kept South Australia ahead of the curve. We have set up a dedicated coronavirus clinic system right across South Australia, including in our regions. We have rolled out Australia's first drive-through testing clinic at the reactivated Repat site. We opened a second drive-through clinic today at the Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre. We have acted swiftly and we have acted decisively to alert South Australians to this threat. We have communicated clearly and constantly about the steps needed to slow or delay the spread.

Our measures have put us in a better position than the Eastern States so far but, with increasing community transmission occurring in some other parts of our nation, we have continued to act to slow the onset of local transmission. That is why we have now imposed unprecedented border controls. That is why more widespread restrictions have been imposed on social gatherings. These restrictions will be reviewed on a monthly basis. For a time, perhaps some time, they will change the way that we all live. I deeply regret the impacts that these restrictions are having on business owners and on workers already impacted and to be impacted.

No-one could fail to be affected by the heartbreaking lines of people outside the Centrelink offices yesterday and again today in our cities, suburbs and regions, but there is no choice if we are to reduce the spread of this virus. There is no choice if we are to save lives. We must maintain the quickest possible pathway to economic rebuilding and recovery, and rebuild and recovery we must and we will achieve. South Australia was the first state to put in place an economic stimulus package. My government continues to actively consider further measures already.

The federal government and all the state and territory governments are doing what they can to cushion the economic impacts as well as the threat to public health. The national cabinet is working efficiently and effectively. I deeply appreciate the opportunity this provides to work with the federal and other state and territory jurisdictions to ensure cooperation and a consistency of approach across the entire country. Equally, I appreciate the cooperation of the opposition and other members of this parliament. I encourage any questions that they may have about particular actions we are taking or any suggestions that they have for further action.

In appealing for the cooperation of the whole community, we must accept the responsibility to set an example ourselves. I take this opportunity to recognise the selfless work of our health professionals: our doctors, nurses, paramedics and everyone else at the front line of our public health response. More than others, they are exposed to the risk of the virus. I also thank all our other public servants in South Australia who are enduring a massive increase in workload and the complexity of tasks due to this coronavirus. In particular, I single out our teachers and our police officers.

I know that many people in South Australia remain extraordinarily anxious about what lies ahead. I assure each and every one of you that your health and wellbeing will continue to be the government's number one priority, as together we confront this challenge and work to ensure that our state emerges stronger and more resilient on the other side. What is ahead may be the most difficult period many South Australians have faced in their lifetime. We have a clear and strong plan to respond to this challenge. Together, we can get through this. We must get through this, and we will get through this.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): I thank the house for the opportunity to respond to the Premier's ministerial statement. We meet today in an unprecedented format for an unprecedented time. Never before in the history of our federation have we faced such a threat as this pandemic. It is a threat to our way of life, a threat to our jobs, a threat to the education of our children and a threat to our health, all of which represents an extraordinary test of not just our leaders and institutions but of every single South Australian in this great state.

We are all being enlisted to this fight. Some have already been called to the front line: the hardworking staff at SA Pathology; the nurses and doctors in our hospitals; the police on their way to border crossings; the teachers in our schools; the shop assistants stacking the shelves, manning the checkouts and pushing the trolleys; and the distribution centre workers. I know these men and women: they are tough, they are hard, they are honest and they are picking orders like they have never picked before. In regard to cleaners: one of the most humble professions in our society has become one of the most heroic. They are cleaning our buses and our trains and cleaning our hospitals, our schools and our supermarkets—disinfecting it all in a way that will literally save lives.

From the ICUs and the doctors to the cleaners, South Australians are progressively standing up to take on this extraordinary challenge that we have never seen before. We thank them for what they are doing, and we thank them for the way that they will continue to serve our community, as they inevitably will be called to do over the coming months.

However, each and every one of us in work should know this: no matter what the disruption, the inconvenience or the call in our endeavour, we are the lucky ones. Last night, as we turned on our television screens and saw the queues, around the block, of people across the nation at Centrelink centres, I think the whole nation's heart sank. We saw people lining up at Centrelink for government support, people who probably would never have contemplated that that would happen to them, but it was happening to thousands right across the country. As that occurred, it struck me, as I think it struck the nation, that this challenge is going to be with us for some time.

The human cost of this challenge is untold; it is extraordinary. It appears that this virus attacks our way of life and our means as aggressively as it attacks our health. For every person in a queue to get a COVID-19 test who appeared on the television screen last night, it appeared there were 10 people lining up at a Centrelink, trying to get access to a basic income so that they could put food on their tables and a roof over their heads. These sights are chilling, so the clear and blunt message for us all is that we must all make a contribution, as the Premier suggested, in complying aggressively and responsibly to all calls that are being made by our health officials in the current days and certainly in the months ahead.

To the men and women who are currently feeling the pain of unemployment as we speak, the tens of thousands across the country who have seen whole industries decimated overnight, we thank you, too. We thank you for your patience, your perseverance and your commitment to remain steadfast in the face of an extraordinary challenge. We are with you and we will do everything possible to ensure that you can continue to enjoy a decent standard of living, provide for your families and have hope in the future.

It is true that in times like this people across the land look to their institutions for comfort and confidence and none more so than their parliament. It is incumbent upon each and every one of us to accept that responsibility. This opposition will do that. We will continue to work collaboratively and constructively with the state government as they lead our state during this extraordinary and challenging time. We look forward to working with the government and the Premier on an ongoing basis. The opposition understands its role at this time is not to seek to undermine confidence in the government but rather to ensure it through offering constructive and considered ideas that we believe will serve this state well during this period.

Overseas experience tells us that going hard and going early is essential. The cost of acting early is only surpassed by the cost of acting too late. We implore the government to heed this message. We implore the government to do more rather than less. If in doubt, act early, act hard and act decisively for the betterment of our state. This opposition will provide bipartisan support to the government in all of those actions.

Now more than ever, we must come together to rise up to this challenge. Our constituents, the people of this state, depend on it. We are ready to work with the government in that endeavour. We look forward to taking on this challenge with the gusto that history provides us with, with the confidence that modern medicine gives us and knowing that, ultimately, we will prevail in this fight in the way that only Australians can.

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