ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: National Cabinet met in Sydney this afternoon to discuss COVID-19 settings, but also key joint actions for the upcoming Jobs and Skills Summit that will be held in Canberra over the next two days. We heard a report from the Acting Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael Kidd, who provided an update on the pandemic and outlined strategies for combatting potential COVID-19 waves into the future. First Ministers reinforced their commitment to continued collaboration between Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments in managing the pandemic. The National Cabinet agreed that the isolation periods for COVID-19 positive cases would be reduced from seven to five days following a positive test, with the following caveats: this would apply to people with no symptoms – clearly, if you have symptoms, we want people to stay home, we want people to act responsibly. Seven days isolation will remain for workers in high-risk settings including aged care; disability care; home care, which is important as well. I believe, and First Ministers agreed, that on the weight of evidence this was a proportionate response at this point in the pandemic. These changes will come into effect from next Friday, 9 September, with the Paid Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment eligibility to reflect the changed isolation period effective from the same date. Services Australia will provide advice in 48 hours. They'll work through by the end of Friday to be able to update the advice on their website. National Cabinet also agreed to remove the mandatory wearing of masks on domestic flights, this change will also come into effect from Friday the 9th of September. Ahead of the Jobs and Skills Summit, First Ministers discussed the ongoing workforce shortages and skills shortages that are impacting our economy and impacting businesses' ability to operate. And we had a constructive discussion and agreed on a vision statement and guiding principles for a new National Skills Agreement that will come into effect in 2024. First Ministers discussed the essential role of early childhood education and care, as part of the education system and as a powerful lever for increasing participation of women in the workforce. We also agreed on the importance of delivering nationally significant energy transmission projects, and supporting regional communities and workforces to capture the opportunities emerging from Australia's transition to a net zero emissions economy. We agreed to commence work on the new National Skills Agreement in place from January 1, 2024. For State and Territory Energy Ministers to work towards implementing the reforms to accelerate the delivery of transmission projects, people would be aware that was identified in our Rewiring the Nation Plan, and through the AEMO work on their integrated systems plan going forward. We will work together on the long-term vision for early childhood education and care, to better support parents' workforce participation. We see this as a major productivity initiative. Childcare isn't about baby minding, it's about growing our economy and about women's workforce participation and will be a very positive issue going forward. We'll discuss housing affordability issues in person at the next meeting of the National Cabinet. And we also agreed to task the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency to accelerate skills and qualification recognition in key health sectors and the Health Ministers are having a meeting this Friday. It was a very collegiate meeting, there were very positive discussions in the lead-up to today's meeting, agreement was reached and again we are reaffirming the way that the National Cabinet and processes are operating. That is, trying to come to common agreement going forward so that it's clearer, rather than different jurisdictions going different ways, and that was something I think was extremely positive. We will have a face-to-face meeting on 30 September, but we will have a virtual meeting in a fortnight's time to discuss other issues after the change comes in on the 9th of September as well, including support for workforce issues that need to be determined going forward. Happy to take some questions.
JOURNALIST: Will the pandemic payment be extended beyond September?
PRIME MINISTER: We will meet in a couple of weeks’ time to determine that. People had some timing issues today just in terms of the scheduling of –
JOURNALIST: Did some Premiers have an issue with it?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it's not a disagreement. It's a matter of the time, the clock. People have meetings, there’s the BCA Dinner tonight, we’ve got the Jobs and Skills Summit over the next couple of days. And we will work those issues through. There is a general view that we need to ensure that people are looked after who need to be looked after. It’s a matter of working those issues through and that’s why we are meeting in a fortnight's time, because the agreement of the extension of pandemic leave is due to conclude at the end of September. So that provides plenty of time to have a collegiate discussion, particularly because it’s both the Commonwealth and State now. We share the funding responsibility for it.
JOURNALIST: So you’re definitely going to make people stay at home for at least five days if they have COVID but you’re not definitely going to extend the pandemic leave payments?
PRIME INISTER: No, I'm saying that we made a decision today about reducing the leave from seven to five. So that’s a change. We haven't changed the arrangements with regard to payments, we will have a meeting about that in a couple of weeks’ time.
JOURNALIST: Do you expect that five days will still be in existence at the end of September, and just to follow on from that, there is no other disease in Australia that the Government has mandated isolation periods for, at what stage do you think it’ll become personal choice?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that's part of the discussion that we are having. That’s the context of the reduction from seven days down to five days. We had a discussion about people looking after each other, people looking after their own health, people being responsible for that and making sure that they look after each other. That is what has been happening. There aren't mandated requirements for the flu or for a range of other illnesses that people suffer from. And what we want to do is to make sure that government responds to the changed circumstances, COVID is likely going to be around for a considerable period of time. And we need to respond appropriately to it based upon the weight of evidence.
JOURNALIST: Just to be very clear on that, you are saying that five days could be reduced to zero by the end of September?
PRIME MINISTER: No, I'm not saying that. I can’t be clearer than what I have said. Seven days down to five days, that is what we have decided.
JOURNALIST: Sure, but people could wake up on October 1 and still be required to take five days off work but not have the payment?
PRIME MINISTER: I’ve gone through very clearly, ok, let's be clear. Seven days down to five days is what is occurring from the 9th of September. With regard to paid pandemic Leave, we wanted time as well, as is appropriate, to consult about what we do with paid pandemic leave, we will have a meeting about that in a couple of weeks about where that goes. But the five days of leave, at some time in the future, that will be reassessed, but there is no timing for that. But gradually, as we come to deal with COVID over a long period of time, we need to ensure that the mechanisms that have been put in place by government that impose restrictions on people, that we reassess them at an appropriate time.
JOURNALIST: What will the pandemic environment look like for you when you would remove that mandatory isolation requirement at all?
PRIME MINISTER: Well we will continue to take advice on that. We are clearly not in a position to do that at this point in time and no one was arguing for that to happen at this point in time.
JOURNALIST: Why not? Because it is now almost seven months since the UK scrapped all COVID isolation requirements and I’ve just been to London, they are doing fine. Why isn’t Australia able to trust its citizens to just look after their own health and stay home if they are sick and if they feel like they need to?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm telling you what the decision was of the National Cabinet today based upon the weight of evidence and the advice that we received. We’ll continue to assess these issues and what restrictions are appropriate at any point in time.
JOURNALIST: With the Jobs Summit, where there any robust discussions about the untapped labour market of refugees on bridging visas and attracting more migrants to come as soon as possible, and cutting the red tape so more migrants can come in, but also thousands of refugees on bridging visas who could be on the labour force tomorrow?
PRIME MINISTER: There was a discussion about visas and the visa backlog which is there. There was a discussion about migration numbers and about skill shortages. But also about training Australians. So about those two things, clearly there is a need to look at migration issues and they will be looked out over the next couple of days. That is a task, if you like for the Jobs and Skills Summit. Today, with the state Premiers and Chief Ministers, the focus was on skills and particularly training, because that is an area where the Commonwealth shares responsibility with the States and Territories. States and Territories run TAFE and that is why we were particularly focused on that today.
JOURNALIST: And just on foreign affairs, where you briefed about Sogovare’s move of banning foreign ships? Were you briefed on that and does that show that your efforts in Pacific diplomacy aren’t garnering the fruits as you wanted?
PRIME MINISTER: Well I don't discuss the briefings that I received on national security. What I can say clearly is Australia is re-engaged with the Pacific. Penny Wong has been in Papua New Guinea and in Timor-Leste this week. Australia is very engaged with our Pacific neighbours and indeed Prime Minister Sogovare is going to visit Australia, and I will welcome his visit.
JOURNALIST: Can you shed some light as to why the 7-day isolation remains for workers in high-risk settings?
PRIME MINISTER: Because that was the advice that we received.
JOURNALIST: From?
PRIME MINISTER: From the Chief Health Officer who gave the presentation. And in terms of, there are different requirements now, as you would be aware, in areas like aged care and disability care, they are areas where you have people who are particularly vulnerable. So we want to make sure that those sectors which are vulnerable are particularly looked after.
JOURNALIST: Did any Premier make a case for reducing the isolation period to zero days today, and is there any modelling that was presented or has been presented about when that point might be reached?
PRIME MINISTER: No, and no.
JOURNALIST: And can I just ask one more on migration. Has unions and business come to an agreement on what the annual migration intake figure should be and if so, what’s that number?
PRIME MINISTER: The Federal Government sets the migration numbers and the Federal Government will continue to set our migration numbers. But I’m very pleased at the level of cooperation which we are seeing in the lead up to the Jobs and Skills Summit. We’re seeing genuine dialogue between business and unions and civil society. It’s a positive thing. I believe that we get a lot when we collaborate, when we maximise input, when we’re inclusive. It’s the sort of government that I want to lead. I said that people have conflict fatigue, people are looking for solutions and not arguments. And I thank all of those who in good faith have participated in trying to search for common solutions in the national interest, and I feel very positive about not just the next two days, but for what it symbolises. This isn’t the end of the discussion at the Jobs and Skills Summit. This in many ways is the start of it, the start of what I hope is a new era of collaboration, a new era of inclusiveness. One where we look for ideas and input, where we look for genuine engagement and respect, where we listen to each other, even when people disagree. And I think an example of that is Jennifer Westacott and Sally McManus and the debate they had on Insiders on Sunday. It was respectful, they came at it from different perspectives, but that is how you get understanding, by actually listening to each other. And I look forward to that collaboration taking place in Canberra, and I look forward to my discussion at the Business Council of Australia tonight. Thanks very much.