TRANSCRIPT: TRIPLE M RIVERINA INTERVIEW, 16 April 2020

E&OE

Subjects: Coronavirus;

LEIGH RYAN:

I'm joined on the line by Deputy Prime Minister and Member for the Riverina, Michael McCormack. Good morning.

We wanted to chat with you today because there's a brand-new respiratory clinic that's happening in Wagga and just want to find out a little bit more about that. It's a great new initiative.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Yeah, look, it's been set up at Dr Ayman Shenouda's practice which, of course, is at Glenrock Country Practice out in Glenfield Park, Tanda Place, and what it's going to do he's got a dedicated area there where he's going to test people, do the necessary assessments for those people who have got COVID-like symptoms but mild to moderate and so it will ease the pressure from Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and, as we know, Wagga Base Hospital services around 250,000 people in the Murrumbidgee Valley. It's a very called-upon hospital and what we need to do with COVID-19, even though we haven't had a number of cases, even though we've kept it low and that's thanks to the self-isolation and people doing the right thing. You know, for people who get a runny nose or a raspy cough or those sorts of symptoms and they get a bit nervous because, as you can imagine, people will this year, when they get those flu-like symptoms, they think it might be COVID-19, it's going to take the pressure off if they go to Glenrock Country Practice and get tested and they're not infiltrating in huge hoards Wagga Base Hospital and the important work they're doing there.

POPPY PENNY:

You mentioned there self-isolation, we are expecting to hear a little bit more about an exit strategy. What do we know about that because obviously we're hoping this will eventually be over at some point and we will be able to head out and see our mates and have a beer at the pub. What do we know in terms of an exit strategy?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

That's right, Poppy, but what we also don't want to see is a second outbreak. Anybody who reads history knows that it was the second outbreak in the Spanish Flu season back in 1919-1920 that actually killed so many people and what we've also seen from the European experience is that second wave has actually killed so many people when they've actually relaxed restrictions too early. So we'll take the advice of Dr Brendan Murphy, the Chief Medical Officer. We'll take the advice of the Principal Protection Committee members who make up the Chief Medical Officers from around the nation and the medical experts before we rush into allowing restrictions to ease, before we say to people, you know, it's okay to go back to living life as normal.

And it's going to be tough, I appreciate that. Usually with Anzac Day, it usually turns cold after that. Anybody who has lived in Wagga long enough knows that, it starts to get cold and people will start to get a bit of a cough and a cold. You know, they will think why am I couped up indoors? I really need to get outside, I really need to resume life as normal but I think we will take the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and we will keep the restrictions in place as long as necessary to save lives and protect livelihoods.

LEIGH RYAN:

Now, one of the big changes has been around education in the way that a lot of people go about their day-to-day life with kids now being largely at home for schooling. When do you think that that is likely to return to normal? Is that something that would be an earlier or later part of that exit strategy?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

I just watched the press conference of Gladys Berejiklian, the NSW Premier, who is saying, you know, school needed to be back in the classroom as much as possible and those parents who are able to send their kids to school are encouraged to do so. Sarah Mitchell, the NSW Education Minister, of course, is saying the same and I know the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is having a meeting with the Premiers and the Chief Ministers today – National Cabinet sits and via teleconference, of course and the chief medical advice throughout the coronavirus to date hasn't changed, it's been consistent. It says when it comes to the safety of children going to school, that they've consistently advised that, you know, the risk remains very low. I've got a daughter who is a school teacher and she tells me it's a lot easier to teach face to face than it is via distance, via Skype and via the Internet.

POPPY PENNY:

Now, we talk about young people and I see a lot of statistics that young people are still sort of the ones that are outside of their house when they perhaps shouldn't be, they're the ones who are copping the most fines and warnings. What's your message for people around social distancing and social isolation with it still being so important?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Well it’s stay at home. I know it's tough and I empathise with people. It is tough to stay at home. But if you're going to go outside, if you're going to leave the home you have to have a good excuse. What we're doing is we're trying to save people's lives and when you've got a nation where we've only lost 63 or so people and you compare it to say, the United Kingdom which has a little bit more than twice our population and they've lost around 11,000 to 12,000. I mean it's a stark difference there. So if we stay at home, we follow the advice that's given to us, we do the right thing, not just for ourselves but for others, we protect lives, we save lives and coming out the other side we'll look back and say we did the right thing, thank goodness for that. Look at the experience overseas. I mean we've already passed 2 million cases but the number of deaths overseas is just horrendous. We don't want that to happen here.

LEIGH RYAN:

Very quickly as well, just with the, again, on that exit strategy. What's the plan for resumption of Parliament? When that's that likely to happen?

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

It's likely to happen probably in August. In fact, funnily enough and I'm not giving trade secrets away, we were having a discussion about that very topic earlier this morning and it’s due back in August. See, the national Parliament is unlike any other Parliament in Australia. They're coming from the four corners of the nation, the far-flung remote centres and of course, with that they could bring all sorts of hidden nasties into the one place, into the one environment. Well, we don't want that and we need to lead by example.

I mean, let me tell you, we're still working very hard, I don't think I've ever worked harder, but we need to make sure that we don't have an outbreak in Canberra here that could well lead to other areas of the nation when all those politicians and their staff return home. So, we'll do the right and responsible thing. If Parliament needs to be recalled in very minimal numbers, like it was last week, to pass any urgent legislation, we'll do just that but let me tell you, we're corresponding and communicating with each other via Skype.

I'm actually in Canberra at the moment because I've got some important work to do in the aviation sector but largely I have been working at home and that's been successful and I understand that for those people who need to travel to work, then that is necessary. But we don't want everybody leaving home and doing the wrong thing and we just need to make sure we contain this virus.

POPPY PENNY:

No rest for the wicked. Michael McCormack, Deputy Prime Minister and Member for the Riverina, thank you so much for your time this morning.

MICHAEL MCCORMACK:

Any time at all. Talk next week. Thanks, Poppy. Thanks, Leigh.

Shane Manning