Coronavirus Australia: Warning virus is ‘keeping us from living’

The Prime Minister is urging the country to get back up on it’s feet and open for business once again.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it’s time Australia was open for business.

Speaking in Newcastle about energy policy this morning, Mr Morrison said that “as long as we are closed, we cannot claim success, as a country”.

“To keep, and get, as many Australians in jobs, has always been my job. In this pandemic, for that to happen, I need as many businesses as is safely possible to be open,” the PM said.

“That is why our national COVID-safe health plan, brought together with the states and territories, is so important. Our quarantine, our testing, our tracing, our outbreak containment – all shut the fires down before it can take hold when they’re working to standard.

“Our COVID-safe vaccine plan, investing some $1.7 billion to develop and produce a vaccine right here in Australia for every single Australian. COVID-safe behaviours with our friends at home, at school, at work, out and about – that denies the virus the opportunity to move amongst us.”

Mr Morrison said the government’s health plan was also critical to our economic plan.

“During this pandemic, by Australia pursuing both, we continue to do better than almost every other developed country in the world when it comes to protecting lives and livelihoods. But as long as we are closed, we cannot claim success, as a country,” he said.

“If we are shut, we are not living alongside the virus, the virus is actually keeping us from living.

“So as we emerge from this second wave in Victoria – and I had a good message from the Victorian Premier this morning – let’s now seize the opportunity ahead of us to safely and successfully reopen this country, reconnect this country, and stay open.”

He said getting Australia open again was just the start of what we must achieve.

“Because only when businesses can see their way to expanding what they do and how many more people they can employ, then they can see that, that’s why they will invest,” he said.

“That’s why they will take a risk. That’s why they’ll have a go. And that’s what our JobMaker plan for Australia’s economic recovery is actually all about – ensuring that businesses have the confidence in this very uncertain world to have a go.”

Speaking in Newcastle about energy policy this morning, Mr Morrison said that “as long as we are closed, we cannot claim success, as a country”.

“If we are shut, we are not living alongside the virus, the virus is actually keeping us from living,” he said.

“So as we emerge from this second wave in Victoria, and I had a good message from the Victorian Premier this morning, let’s now seize the opportunity ahead of us to safely and successfully reopen this country, reconnect this country, and stay open.”