Mark Butler’s Covid-19 U-turn rattles business

Mark Butler and his Victorian counterpart are urging workers to stay home amid rising Covid-19 cases and respiratory illnesses.

Cafe owner Theo Roussos in Melbourne on Tuesday: ‘Every time there is an announcement … it impacts almost within a couple of days’. Picture: Aaron Francis

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler and his Victorian counterpart are urging Australians to consider working from home “for a little period” to help curb rising Covid-19 cases and respiratory illnesses, triggering a backlash from business groups demanding the country stays open.

The Victorian move came as the states tightened Covid rules on federal health advice, cutting the reinfection period from 12 weeks to four, which would require testing and isolation rules to be followed 28 days after an infection, potentially forcing more workers into isolation.

Trade unions on Tuesday ­demanded the Albanese government reinstate $750-a-week pandemic leave payments for workers forced to stay home as cases continue to rise.

As more than 300,000 Australians recover from Covid-19, and with cases and hospitalisations set to climb in the next few weeks, Mr Butler said on Tuesday that Australians should work from home if they can.

“Yes, I think we are going to go through a difficult period and if employers feel that there is the ability to continue their operations with that sort of change for a little period then I think the chief health officers are providing good advice,” he told 3AW radio.

“But employers will have to consider that given the circumstances that they’re facing now.

“There’s a level of fatigue there about being told what to do. So I think chief health officers, political leaders need to make sure that they calibrate their advice for this third wave in 2022 in a way that gets the best response and the best behavioural response from our community.”

Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas defied ­advice from the state’s chief health officer to mandate mask wearing in schools, hospitality, retail and early education settings. But she broke ranks from populous states such as NSW, Queensland and Western Australia to request ­employers “consider working from home arrangements that are most appropriate for their workplace and employees based on ­individual requirements”.

Health Minister Mark Butler says ‘chief health officers, political leaders need to make sure that they calibrate their advice for this third wave in 2022’. Picture: AAP

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee – comprising the country’s chief health officers and chief medical officer Paul Kelly – last week said ­employers should “consider the feasibility of some employees working from home and support employees to take leave when sick”.

Business groups on Tuesday warned the latest winter wave of Covid-19 was a test for state and federal governments if they were committed to reopening and ­moving past restrictions.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox, representing more than 60,000 businesses and one million employees, said it was disappointing that state medical infrastructure “continues to struggle” but it was no excuse to impose “draconian restrictions or wind down the economy as some of the medical fraternity clearly want to do”.

“We have seen before that mask and work-from-home mandates have deeply impacted the ­viability, growth and responsiveness of thousands of businesses. Companies have now developed different arrangements with their staff according to their mutual needs and have implemented clear Covid action plans,” Mr ­Willox said.

“Our major cities remain very quiet and to impose further ­restrictions would be a hammer blow for their recovery.”

The hospitality industry said any measures that reduced ­patronage would lead to further small business closures and reliance on government support.

“This winter season is a test for governments throughout Australia on their stance on whether they want to live with Covid-19 or shut down the economy with every variant in the years to come,” Restaurant and Catering chief executive Belinda Clarke said.

Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas defied ­advice from the state’s chief health officer to mandate mask wearing in schools, hospitality, retail and early education settings. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

“The last thing the hospitality industry needs is another lockdown or a government-induced slowdown.

“If it is the government’s view every winter that the increased spike in cases with each new Covid-19 and flu variant should result in hibernation at home, we ask that the government assist with this long-term societal shift in the economy to only operate for three seasons of the year.”

Theo Roussos owns two hospitality businesses in the once booming Melbourne CBD, where many office workers often work from home on Mondays and Fridays, leaving the city quiet.

He said encouraging workers to stay home would not help the city’s economic recovery, ­although he understood concerns about rising Covid infections.

“What most of the businesses that have gone through in the city with all the lockdowns – we will take another hit,” he said.

“Every time there is an ­announcement with workers staying home, it impacts almost within a couple of days.

“If we are expected to employ staff and keep them going and run our businesses and find our feet again after two years of up and down, it’s just back at the back foot again.”

Mr Roussos said he felt a “glimmer of hope” during the past six months as foot traffic ­increased in the city again, but that was largely due to the City of Melbourne pumping up major events in the CBD.

Anthony Albanese said mask mandates were a matter for state governments as he stared down union demands to extend pandemic leave disaster payments, which ended in June.

“We inherited the former ­government’s decision on this and we also inherited $1 trillion of debt,” the Prime Minister said.

“There are a range of things we would like to do but we intend to be fiscally responsible in how we deal with issues.”

But the union movement said the Albanese government’s decision to stop the payments, which were worth up to $750 a week, would result in more people ­becoming sick and dying.

“We call on them to reverse it immediately,” ACTU assistant secretary Liam O’Brien said.

“The Health Minister and the Albanese government have been very clear that they expect case numbers to increase in coming months as we deal with a more ­infectious and dangerous variant of the virus.

“In this context it is extremely shortsighted to have removed the disaster leave payment, which was critical to ensuring that all workers could comply with isolation orders and other directions without being out of pocket.”

Acting Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said the recommendations to work from home would hit businesses hard. “The health of Victorians must continue to be our number one priority, but we know from experience that government recommendations to wear masks and consider work-from-home arrangements significantly reduce the number of office workers in the city,” he said. “This will be another very challenging period for those people working in and running small businesses in the city.”

 

Ms Thomas said she had consulted industry leaders about mask mandates and been assured mask usage would continue to be encouraged.

“Mask wearing in indoor and crowded settings is strongly recommended to protect yourself and our most vulnerable Victorians through winter – but there will not be any changes to current face mask requirements with these new pandemic orders,” she said.

Victorian health authorities are expecting a winter surge in Covid infections to continue after the state reported 10,627 new cases on Tuesday.

There has been a 53 per cent increase in people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 in the past two weeks.

It is believed Victorian Department of Health advice reported hospitalisations could reach 200 admissions per day, but increased mask wearing indoors would reduce this to between 150 and 180.

New BA 4 and BA 5 strains of Omicron are now the dominant strains in Victoria. They were first identified in April and rose to an average of 53.5 per cent across all Victorian wastewater catchments by June 30 compared to less than 5 per cent in late May.