Scott Morrison blasts ongoing Covid-19 restrictions as ‘not normal’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken out against some of the Covid-19 restrictions still in place across the country, saying they are “not normal”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has hit out against continued Covid-19 restrictions, saying it is “not normal” for a government to have this kind of continued power over people’s lives.

Mr Morrison delivered the address to the annual Sydney Institute dinner on Monday night, with his politically charged comments coming ahead of next year’s federal election.

He suggested some on the “left of politics” would wrongly accuse the Government of making this new-found role in Australians’ lives as a “new norm”.

But he stressed this was not the case.

“While necessary, it is not normal for government to tell Australians where we can and can’t go, who we can and can’t invite into our homes, to stay home, to close our businesses,” Mr Morrison said.

“It’s not normal to keep track of where we’ve been, not be allowed to visit friends or relatives, go out to dinner or the pub. None of these restrictions belong in the lives of Australians.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said it is ‘not normal’ for the Government to have so much control over people’s lives. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

QR sign-in codes for businesses have been an integral part of contact tracing throughout the pandemic, but now some states are moving to roll back check-in requirements.

From tomorrow, people in NSW will only be required to check in to a small number of business, including hospitals, aged care facilities, gyms, pubs and clubs, places of worship, indoor music festivals, funerals and personal services.

Mr Morrison said it was time for the Government to “step back and let Australians step forward”.

“Why do I stress this? Because I believe some on the left of politics will draw precisely the wrong lesson from the pandemic,” he said, “where it is viewed as the pretext for a more expansive government role and reach into society – across economic, social and cultural domains.

“This would be a profound misjudgment … The reach of government in this pandemic is not some new norm; it has a use-by date.”

He said the Government’s role is not to be a “meddling, busybody overseer” in the lives of its citizens.

Mr Morrison said it was not the plan to continue the ‘reach’ into people’s lives that has been a feature through the pandemic. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

On Tuesday, Mr Morrison stood by his comments about scrapping restrictions, despite NSW recording a spike in Covid-19 infections.

NSW confirmed 804 new cases on Tuesday, with 85 Omicron cases now detected in the state.

Mr Morrison said the government was taking Omicron “very seriously” but it wouldn’t let the new variant “take us back”.

“We’ve decided as a country to live with this virus and Australians have worked so hard for that,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday.

“When we have vaccination rates about to hit 90 per cent, one of the highest in the world, that means we have choices today that we didn’t have 18 months ago and that means that we can continue to move forward.”

The PM said health decisions can no longer be based on rising case numbers, saying Australia was now in a “different phase” of the pandemic.

“Cases are not the issue and I know over a period of time we may have become conditioned to case numbers being the trigger. That’s not the case,” he said.

In his speech at the Sydney Institute dinner on Monday night, Mr Morrison revealed his plans for a “balanced” restart of Australia’s migration program as well as more training for Australians, in a bid to deal with the increasing skills shortage in the country.

“We intend to keep it that way with a sustainable migration program that gets the balance right – keeping our borders secure, avoiding population pressures on our infrastructure and services and meeting the labour needs of our economy, as well as family reunion and humanitarian obligations,” he said.

The Prime Minister added that “Team Australia” had more work to do, saying the success of the country has been built on the “resilience, strength and quiet confidence of the Australian people”.

Mr Morrison’s comments are the latest indication he is gearing up for a May 2022 federal election.

The absolute latest an election can be held is May 21, 2022.

Australian federal elections usually aren’t held in January and February because of the high number of people away on holidays and an election in April is also considered unlikely because of Easter, school holidays and Anzac Day.

The Government has also announced it will present a Budget on March 29, further suggesting a May election is likely.

Originally published as Scott Morrison blasts ongoing Covid-19 restrictions as ‘not normal’