Tuesday, 17 March 2020

Ministers statements: COVID-19

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Equality, Minister for Creative Industries) (12:28): I rise to update the house on the health portfolio on behalf of the Minister for Health in the other place. Yesterday the Premier and the Minister for Health declared a state of emergency in Victoria due to the COVID-19 virus. The state of emergency began at midday yesterday and will be in force for the next four weeks to assist with measures designed to give our health system the best chance of managing this virus and to flatten out the COVID-19 curve of infection. This will help provide the chief health officer with the powers he needs to enforce 14-day isolation requirements for travellers entering Australia and to cancel non-essential mass gatherings of more than 500 people, as agreed by the national cabinet over the weekend.

Let us be clear: this is the biggest health challenge we have faced in our lifetimes in this state. We are seeing large increases in cases in Victoria. Overnight there were 23 new cases alone. That is why it is so important that we have the right tools at our disposal to minimise the impact of this virus. Under the state of emergency authorised officers can act to eliminate or reduce risk to public health by detaining people, restricting movement, preventing entry to premises or providing any other direction that an authorised officer considers reasonable to protect public health. The first direction from the chief health officer under these new powers includes banning non-essential mass gatherings of over 500 people such as cultural events, sporting events or conferences. I want to thank the communities and organisations who have already taken steps to reduce or cancel events in the lead-up to that official direction: groups like the AFL, who have closed games, events such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and other organisations.

These are strong and unprecedented measures, but we need to manage the spread of the coronavirus. We will do whatever it takes to keep Victorians safe, and I want to thank, on behalf of, I am sure, all the Parliament, our frontline health workers for the efforts that they have shown to date and the efforts that they will bring in the weeks and months ahead.