Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister, for his outstanding performance. Will the Prime Minister update the House on how the Morrison government is acting to keep Australians safe from and to build resistance to the threat of the coronavirus outbreak that we're currently experiencing?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Leichhardt. He, amongst the many members of this House, would know, particularly up in North Queensland, of the devastating impact the coronavirus is having on the tourist industry. I want to thank the member for Leichhardt for the work he's been doing in raising issues with the government about how—not just now, but into the future—we'll be able to work with the local tourist industry that is there, and the local fishing industry as well. I want to thank him for raising those issues, because there are many implications as a result of the coronavirus outbreak that the government has been working diligently to contain, on the best advice of our medical advisers.

Fifteen people have had confirmed cases, and five of those people have recovered. The changing epidemiology of the coronavirus is something the government is reviewing very regularly as part of the activities of the National Security Committee, receiving regular updates not just from the World Health Organization but also from other medical advisers, working with partners. DFAT has upgraded its travel advice for all of mainland China to level 4, which is 'do not travel'. We are working closely in cooperation with our international partners. Indeed, the discussions we had with President Widodo and with the foreign minister last night and today went into the issue of how we're working together to ensure that we contain the impact of the coronavirus between our two countries.

There are enhanced screening arrangements at airports, with over 300,000 surgical masks deployed by the Australian Border Force and the Department of Agriculture staff at airports across Australia. They also have handheld thermometers available at impacted airports. This builds on the more than half a million masks already distributed to the community out of the National Medical Stockpile. The government and Qantas have worked together to assist Australians who wish to leave Wuhan, and the second successful flight arrived yesterday, landing in Darwin in the early afternoon; 266 passengers were onboard. Passengers are undergoing a 14-day quarantine at the Howard Springs accommodation centre near Darwin.

The government has now assisted over 530 Australians to safely return to Australia on two Qantas flights, and there has also been an Air New Zealand flight where Australians were also assisted. There can be no guarantee that the Australian government will be in a position to operate further flights into these affected areas. We said that we would prioritise isolated and vulnerable Australians, and that's what we've done, and we thank the Chinese government for their cooperation in assisting us to be able to assist the departure of those Australians from those areas. I commend the work of the Australian Border Force, the Department of Health and the Chief Medical Officer and the work that they've done, together with the Minister for Health and the Minister for Home Affairs, to stand up the quarantine arrangements and the successful management of those quarantine arrangements, not just at Christmas Island but now also in Darwin. I want to thank also the Northern Territory Chief Minister for his strong cooperation in putting those arrangements in place on the weekend.