Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously today we saw that the markets went down by two per cent with regard to concerns about the coronavirus. They are clawing back some ground as we speak. This is an issue that is going to be so important for every person in every electorate as to how we, in a sober way, deal with this issue, which is obviously having ramifications on our nation as we speak, especially in the financial sector.

It's very important that we clearly get some facts out as to exactly what the attributes are, or, basically, how this disease works—not the attributes; that is a very bad turn of phrase—what its fatality rate is like and what its transmission capability is like. From what we hear at the moment, it has an R0 of around about two, which makes it virulent, and it has a fatality rate, which we are uncertain of, somewhere between, we believe, two and three per cent.

It is also incredibly important that we understand, after watching Four Corners last night, that there could be a form of hysteria that comes into play, and I think that that is not going to help anything. It is going to be incumbent upon this chamber to get the facts out to our electorates and to work in a sober way as to manage this disease.