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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-28 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus Restrictions

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:28): Again, my question is to the Premier. Will the Premier publish his strategy for lifting COVID-19 restrictions to allow businesses, such as those in the hospitality or tourism sectors, time to prepare for the return to normal trading?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:29): Thank you very much. I wouldn't say there is a government strategy. I have outlined the methodology and the mechanism by which this is achieved. The State Coordinator puts the directions in place, but he does that on the advice of other people; so he consults. Ultimately, it is his decision. He does take into account, in particular, the advice of Health but, as I was saying earlier, the expanded advice now both from a social perspective and an economic perspective.

I have tried, as much as possible during the term of this COVID-19 crisis to date, to speak on a very regular basis with people from different sectors across South Australia, whether that be the arts sector, the creative industries, the IT sector, mining, defence, broader industry in South Australia, major events. These are sectors which have been hit very hard by the coronavirus, and at every opportunity I have said it would be good for the industries themselves to start thinking of the restrictions that are in place at the moment and what a preferred option to see those restrictions lifted would be because I think this is very important input to Health.

This is very important input to Dr Nicola Spurrier and her public health administration team. They do not have depth knowledge of every individual sector in South Australia, so as much as possible if sectors come up with their own risk assessment, the types of things that they could put in place, then this goes some way to helping prepare the options that Health can consider. I must say that I have been very happy with the diligence with which different sectors have applied themselves to consider this, to consider where the risks exist.

I've got to say there is a much higher level of knowledge about the coronavirus, the transmission of the coronavirus, right across industry sectors in South Australia than existed two, four, six or eight weeks ago. As we learn more, and as we monitor what options there are here in South Australia and what options are being considered in other jurisdictions, then we put ourselves in a much better position to know how we can apply those.

As I was saying earlier, this Friday morning, 9.30 Adelaide time, the national cabinet meets. We'll again be looking at updated modelling in terms of the coronavirus, new cases here in South Australia, the origin of those cases, and then we will start, over the coming weeks, to look at the different risk and benefit profiles, if you like, of each of the restrictions that we have. I think this will provide even more information and background for the commissioner and Nicola Spurrier and their teams to be making advice to the commissioner with regard to those directions.

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