COVID-19
Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (12:25): My question is to the Minister for Public Transport. Given open-air major events such as the grand prix and AFL matches have been cancelled or closed for community safety, what additional protocols has the minister issued for travel on Victoria’s overcrowded public transport system, which involves close contact with others in an enclosed environment for more than 15 minutes?
Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Public Transport) (12:26): I would like to thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question because there has been an enormous amount of planning that has gone into public transport with the department. In fact yesterday the Department of Health and Human Services via the chief health officer gave us a series of protocols for appropriate actions under transport, which include things like additional cleaning measures, public health information, the promotion of sanitisers for use on entering buildings where available and making sure that people can actually stagger their travel and advise people when they can do that.
Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (12:27): What advice can the minister provide to Victorians who may be confused by the government suggesting that close contact on enclosed public transport for prolonged periods is safe but attending an open-air sporting event is not?
Ms HORNE (Williamstown—Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Public Transport) (12:27): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. We follow the advice of the chief health officer, who has advised that we adopt—
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! The question that has been asked is a legitimate question; it is a good question and the minister is providing an answer. I need to be able to hear the answer. I warn members to maintain a level of decorum that this situation would demand.
Ms HORNE: As I was saying, we follow the advice of the chief health officer and we are working with our operators to ensure that those protocols are adopted.