Before wrapping things up, let's run through the key points from that half-hour with Scott Morrison tonight, because a lot of ground was covered in not much time.
+ Asked when Australia might return to something resembling normalcy, he said changes to the coronavirus restrictions would happen "gradually". Mr Morrison said Australia cannot get "fully back to normal" until there is a vaccine, but the government wants to get "as close as we possibly can";
+ On the flipside of that question, the Prime Minister was asked how he would reassure people who worry Australia is moving to ease restrictions too quickly, and risking a second wave of the virus. He said there are far more protections in place now than there were six weeks ago. "Now that we've got these protections in place, that means that we can operate at a much higher level than we had before," he said;
+ Mr Morrison reiterated his call for schools to reopen, saying it had "always" been the medical advice that children were "far less susceptible" to the virus. "That's not to say that a child doesn't get it, but it's very rare and their experience is a very mild one compared to those at a more vulnerable age," he said;
+ While on the subject of schools, Mr Morrison shared the experience of his own family, saying learning online from home "hasn't worked" for his younger daughter as much as it has for his eldest. He also said it was a "real problem" for parents to be expected to juggle homeschooling with working from home;
+ The Prime Minister doubled down on his defence of NSW Health officials, whose competence has been questioned in the wake of the Ruby Princess debacle. "Give them a go. Not everybody's going to get every call right every single time, and the expectation that they might, I think, is very unrealistic," he said;
+ He revealed it was "quite possible" that playgrounds could reopen in the "not too near future". Mr Morrison said the decision to shut them in the first place was a difficult one, and the medical expert panel was looking at the issue;
+ Asked whether other world leaders had asked him for advice, given Australia's success in containing the virus, he diplomatically said all leaders were "trying to learn from each other". But he did say he had walked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson through the key elements of our response during a recent phone call;
+ Asked why there have been so few cases of the virus among workers at retail shops like Coles, Woolies and Bunnings, where contact with the public is frequent, he gave the credit to businesses. "Employers have put in place social distancing and procedures to keep their patrons safe," Mr Morrison said, adding that he'd seen businesses do "amazing things" to adapt to the situation;
+ Finally, the Prime Minister briefly described what a "COVID-safe Australia" will look like, once restrictions are eased. He stressed that "there will still be cases" of the virus. "It won't be eradicated. There will still be outbreaks," he said. "The goal is not to bring it down to zero. That's not a practical expectation. It is to ensure that we can keep on top of it."
