Return to normality will take time, says Power

The man behind the plan to progressively open up the economy is one of Australia’s most experienced chief executives.

Head of the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission Nev Power. Picture: AAP

The man behind the plan to progressively open up the economy, COVID-19 Coordination Commission chairman Nev Power, is one of Australia’s most experienced chief executives.

The former chief executive of iron ore giant Fortescue Metals, Power has been based in Canberra for the past five weeks overseeing a commission of business leaders and working with senior public servants to get the economy through the crisis and plan the road map back to work.

Leading a team including former Telstra chief David Thodey, ANZ board member Jane Halton, Toll founder Paul Little, Energy Australia CEO and Reserve Bank board member Catherine Tanna and former ACTU chief Greg Combet, Power has been working with companies and industry groups to limit the economic impact of the virus shutdown and devise plans to safely reopen businesses.

Much of the thinking behind Friday’s phased announcement has come from detailed work being done by the commission, which has been charged by Prime Minister Morrison with the responsibility of saving as many jobs as possible in a way that protects health in a COVID-19 world.

Power was sitting in Perth in late March, juggling roles as chair of Perth Airport, deputy chair of Strike Energy, chair of the WA Museum and the Royal Flying Doctors Board, when he got a phone call asking him to head up the commission.

He jumped on a plane to Canberra for the announcement and has been based there since.

Business is now pouring over the details of the announcement to work out what it means.

“It was full on for the first few weeks,” Power says from his temporary office in Canberra.

“It has been pretty hectic but we are now settling down into a rhythm.”

Known as a cool-headed, practical executive, Power and his commission have had extensive consultation with companies and industry and employee groups across the country over the past few weeks working on plans to cope with the pandemic while minimising the potential economic devastation of having more than a million people out of work.

“We have had a lot of support from business and employer and employee groups,” he says.

Power is keen that employers now start accessing the Safe Work Australia website to come to terms with what developing a COVID-safe workplace means for them.

It has been a stressful time for employers and business as well as their staff.

While some companies are doing well, he admits that “there’s no question that there are some businesses which are still coming to grips with what they need to do”.

Talking to Power, it is clear that the challenges ahead as restrictions are eased will be different from industry to industry.

Industries dependent on international travel — such as universities and tourism — will be hard hit for a long time, with travel not resuming any time soon.

There are also special issues with workplaces in vulnerable communities such as aged care, while mining and those operating in remote areas have their own challenges, including protecting Aboriginal communities who may be more vulnerable to the virus.

“There are vulnerable people who are particularly susceptible to the impact of the virus,” says Power, who has worked extensively with regional and Aboriginal communities.

“While most of us can cope with an infection and go and get health treatment, our vulnerable Australians would find it more difficult in those remote areas.

“That is a major concern as we go through this.”

The challenges will vary, from restaurants to employers of thousands of staff who traditionally work in office blocks, many of which have been empty for the past weeks as a result of the shutdown.

Power paints a picture of cities full of half-empty office blocks, at least for the next few months.

He says workplace changes in office blocks include staggering starting and finishing times, and having strict rules about how many people can be in elevators.  Another option for office workers is different teams coming to work on a rotating basis.

Power says companies in high rise office blocks will be looking at progressively bringing staff back and a return to full blocks may be some way off.

“I don’t think we will be back to business as normal until such time as the virus has been eradicated from the world,” he says.

“At the moment they (big office blocks) are pretty much empty. They certainly can’t go back to being full.

“None of them would be able to incorporate COVID-safe workplaces. We won’t be going from zero to 100 per cent, that’s for sure.

“We need social distancing, we need those COVID-specific personal distancing behaviours we have all being doing to be maintained into workplace.” Power says many employers that have had staff working from home over the past few weeks are now reviewing their workplaces, including looking for efficiencies as they come out of the virus shutdown.  “Some employers may continue to have some workers at home on a permanent basis.

“Other businesses may spilt into two offices and have a permanent rotation system with split staff times.

“We want to encourage people to come back to work — but not to congregate.”

As a manager he believes it is important to get employees back into their workplaces.

“Working from home has been very effective,” he says.

“I would say as a cultural leader, you don’t get the same culture when people work from home.

“Working from home is sustainable for a time, and for some it might be permanent, but in a lot of businesses, to get the culture you are looking for, the micro-connections that happen in offices all the time — you don’t get that when you are working from home.”

Having employees working together at a workplace involves many “small interactions that go to making up the very fabric of the culture of organisations”.

Power says the government is very concerned to get the hospitality, arts and cultural industries back to work in a COVID-safe way, because of the number of employees in these industries.

“We need to get people back in work — meaningful work.”

The forces behind this, he argues, include the mental health of people working in forced isolation at home, as well as the economic cost of the business shutdown.

Some industries will benefit from the COVID-19 restrictions as the domestic economy is gradually opened up.

Not having access to international travel, he points out, will see more Australians travelling around their own country.

“We know more Australians will be holidaying at home for quite a while.

“We are looking at how we can help regional and local tourism to be able to do that.”

Mr Power says he has committed to chair the commission for six months but is prepared to be flexible if he is needed for longer.

“I’m here to help and will be doing it for as long as it takes. I am very focused on doing a good job.”

Power says he is getting input on what is happening overseas through a range of connections including an investment banker friend living in New York.

“I am also talking to people in Germany, in Los Angeles, China and Japan. And I also have family in Texas.”

The COVID commission is also relying on information from embassies around the world and federal government departments.

“There is a lot of information coming through,” he says.

“We are getting daily reports on what is happening around the world which is very informative.

“It shapes our thinking but there are no silver bullets around this.

“It is about understanding the risk factors about the spread of the virus and managing those with the least impact on jobs and people’s lives and livelihoods as we can.”