Coronavirus: Scott Morrison slams national cabinet critics: ‘there’s no red or blue teams’

Scott Morrison says the new national cabinet operates completely free of political allegiances.

‘Federation working at its best’: Scott Morrison. Picture: Supplied

Scott Morrison has rejected attacks on the decisions and policies of the new national cabinet, declaring it was “Australia’s federation working at its best” and that it operated completely free of political allegiances.

“The national cabinet is Australia’s federation working at its best. There is no red or blue teams in those meetings. We’re all in it together,” the Prime Minister said after the latest meeting of all government leaders.

Mr Morrison said the national cabinet, which includes the Prime Minister, all six premiers and two territory chief ministers, was “a great team to belong to”.

Daniel Andrews, the senior Premier of the national cabinet and Victorian Labor leader, also said the process was working well and different decisions by different states were realistic.

“National cabinet is an important forum and working well. None of us underestimates the magnitude of the task we’re facing, and the impact our decisions are having on thousands of Australians,” he said on Friday.

“We are all focused on slowing the spread of the virus and saving lives. That’s why it was so important that national cabinet made clear that different states and territories will need to take different steps at different times to combat this virus.”

Five of the leaders are Labor premiers and chief ministers; four are Liberal.

On Friday, Labor frontbenchers said the national cabinet processes were sending confused messages to the public a day after Anthony Albanese set the opposition on a different course to the Morrison government on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor is advocating dropping the “proportionate response” to the virus to institute an immediate lockdown of society.

Kristina Keneally, Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman, said the blunder in allowing 2700 passengers to disembark from the Ruby Princess, with its subsequent coronavirus infections, was “a break­down of the national cabinet processes”.

Richard Marles, the Deputy Opposition Leader, also said on Friday that national cabinet’s reversal of the 30-minute haircut limit “literally after 24 hours” was evidence of a confused message to the public. “There has to be one clear, consistent message based on the idea of doing everything we possibly can do right now,” he said.

“There has to be a plan from the government. And what we are seeing is a kind of step-by-step, almost death by 1000 cuts here. We need to know what is the plan to make sure we are doing everything we can to see the stopping of the transmission of this disease.”

Labor has advocated putting treatment of the virus ahead of protecting the economy and rejected the advice to the national cabinet of a phased response on health grounds.

Mr Morrison has not reacted to Labor’s position although Finance Minister Mathias Cormann accused the ALP of politicising the pandemic.

“Things are tough enough out there without political commentary undermining the medical advice and suggesting we should close down even more businesses where the medical advice doesn’t say we should,” he said.

Mr Morrison said all Australian leaders were under a “fog of war” on health and economic fronts.

“We’re all working under a fog of war on two fronts — on health and the economy to save lives and save livelihoods. We’re pulling together everything we know, all the insights we can get and then acting on the best advice and information we have,” he said.