Defence Minister war-gamed deploying army to ‘turn people away from hospitals’

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has revealed the drastic measures his government considered involving the army to deal with Covid.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed he war-gamed sending in the army to turn away Australians from hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic describing the discussions as “staring into the abyss.”

Mr Morrison’s confirmation of the shock plan follows Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s revelation that the national security committee was forced to consider the option among a range of “horror” scenarios.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, we were staring into the abyss and we had to consider every single contingency,’’ he said.

“But what he then went on to say is that the actions that our government took saved businesses from bankruptcy ...it saved 40,000 lives.

“That was the difference. We were looking at the start of this pandemic into a horror scenario that no one could imagine. Any number of possibilities were out there. No one understood what the virus was or how it would impact how deadly it would be.

“And as we are here now, two years later, we have saved 40,000 lives.We have ensured that we are one of the strongest economies anywhere in the advanced world.

“And thirdly, one of the highest rates of vaccination and when you look at those big ticket items, Australia’s management the pandemic matches up extremely well to other countries. And that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been tough. It’s been extremely tough.

“But I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else than here in Australia. as we’ve gone through this pandemic.”

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Defence Minister Peter Dutton detailed terrifying options the government considered as it prepared for the nation’s health system to be overwhelmed. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Defending the Prime Minister’s record on pandemic management, Mr Dutton said the entire cabinet was forced to contemplate the unthinkable and Mr Morrison had shown leadership.

“There was no rule book for this. When we were first as a national security committee on Covid, we were preparing for morgues at public hospitals, for defence personnel to be deployed to turn people away from hospitals,’’ he said.

“We would have had tens of thousands of more deaths than we had today.”

Mr Dutton told the ABC’s 7:30 program that the problem the virus was now causing in aged care and the isolation of elderly residents was “a witches brew.”

“But you can’t argue on the one hand that people feel isolated and you want to allow loved ones in, which is the natural reaction, but then say, “We’re surprised when Omicron is introduced into aged-care facilities,’’ he said.

“It is a witches brew. It is difficult to deal with. We need to face the realities of Omicron, the way in which it targets older people and the way in which we want older people in aged- care facilities to see their loved ones and their grandkids and the rest. But we need to be realistic about the fact that that then introduces more of the virus into an aged care setting.

“The best thing that we can do at the moment is to provide those nurses and those additional shifts to be covered where people are sick. The reality is in any work space at the moment, particularly confined work spaces where people are working very closely together, you do get a spread of the virus. So the stories are harrowing, they’re upsetting and we are doing everything in the circumstances where you’ve got a highly contagious communicable disease to try and contain that to provide the rollout.”

Mr Dutton said he was prepared to consider sending in the army to help in aged care facilities. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Speaking on Today on Friday morning, Mr Dutton also said he was prepared to consider sending in the army to help in aged care facilities.

“Well, if that is what is required to fix this problem and to provide dignity to these people, that is what we will do. But at the moment, I mean, we’re bringing in nurses, we’re bringing in the extra shifts,’’ he said.

“We’ve got to be realistic about the health support available within the defence force. I’ve got plenty of personnel out of the ADF at the moment who are isolating at home because they’re no different to any other workplace. And many of the medical staff within the Australian Defence Force are reservists so working within the public or private sector anyway.

“You know, my dad is 76, not in perfect health. We were very worried. He had Omicron only last week, the week before, and he came through OK. But we know friends of his and others of that age with comorbidities, et cetera, where it is not the same story. So we’ve got to go through work, with the best possible solution.”