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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-05-12 Daily Xml
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Coronavirus Restrictions

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (14:09): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's Roadmap for Easing COVID-19 Restrictions?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:10): I thank the member for Newland for his question regarding our road map back to a COVID-safe environment. It was announced by the Prime Minister following national cabinet last Friday that all states and territories have agreed that we will be back in a COVID-safe environment in July.

The date on that in July hasn't been set yet, but there is a three-stage process to get back to a COVID-safe environment where we can get as many people as we possibly can back to work, but making sure that we are doing that in as safe a way as possible. Of course, in South Australia, we announced our position with regard to stage 1, or step 1, immediately. We did that on Friday following the Prime Minister's press conference.

One of the things that we were very pleased to do was open up for regional travel in South Australia as of yesterday. We know the regions in South Australia have been doing it very tough with dry and drought conditions for much of the last four or five years plus, of course, the devastating bushfires that occurred in late December and January. Then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic comes along.

We are really keen to open up our regions in South Australia for some travel and also to open up for uni and TAFE face-to-face tutorials, which began as of yesterday, outdoor dining for restaurants and cafes, though no alcohol at this stage and a table limit of up to 10, and community youth and, very importantly, RSL halls in South Australia. I know the property sector was absolutely delighted that we had lifted the restrictions with regard to auctions and also home inspections. We have changed that so that now 10 people can be present at those. Local government libraries have opened up with a 10 person limit.

Importantly, we have opened up training for our sports organisations, and I know a lot of people are very happy about that. Again, it is in a modified format to start with, so it is outdoors only, it is in a group of up to 10 and it is non-contact. It is more skills and fitness training at the moment but, hopefully, as we progress through these stages, we can get back to a more normal situation as quickly as possible.

One of the other things that we changed, and I know a lot of people were very happy about this, was that we lifted the restrictions on numbers to attend funerals. Previously, this was just 10, but as of Monday this week it is 20 indoors and 30 outdoors. We also lifted the restrictions regarding attending places of worship. Again, these are small, baby steps, but we are heading in the right direction. We don't want to go backwards; we want to make sure that we can continue to go forwards.

As the tourism minister, I am particularly happy that South Australians can travel to our regions once again. I know that the Minister for Environment and Water is very happy with the bookings that have been made on our national parks website recently. As of 9 o'clock yesterday, there have been 871 bookings, a more than 1,000 per cent increase in bookings compared with the same time last year.

I would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the life of Leon Linnett, who was an absolute giant of the South Australian tourism sector who sadly passed away yesterday. The Linnett family, as most members would recall, established one of the first resorts on Kangaroo Island at American River. Leon assumed sole ownership of the resort back in 1971, expanding the resort to establish Linnetts Island Club. He sold the property, now known as the Kangaroo Island Lodge, in the late 1990s. We absolutely pay our respects and offer our condolences to the Linnett family and the entire Kangaroo Island community. Vale, Leon Linnett.

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