Anthony Albanese: 'A better future for all Australians', election victory speech - 2022

21 May 2022, Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club, Sydney, Australia

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. And on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart in full.

And I say to my fellow Australians, thank you for this extraordinary honour. Tonight, the Australian people have voted for change. I am humbled by this victory and I'm honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of Australia.

My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together. And I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia. A government as courageous and hardworking and caring as the Australian people are themselves.

Earlier tonight, Scott Morrison called me to congratulate myself and the Labor Party on our victory at the election.

Scott, very graciously, wished me well. And I thanked him for that and I wish him well. And I thank him for the service that he has given to our country as Prime Minister.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Jenny Morrison and their two daughters for their contribution and sacrifice as well.

My fellow Australians, it says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia's prime minister.

Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars.

I want Australia to continue to be a country that no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, that places no restrictions on your journey in life. My fellow Australians, I think they've got the name by now. I think they've got that.

I know at the beginning of the campaign they said people didn't know me but I reckon they've got it.

During this campaign, I have put forward a positive, clear plan for a better future for our country. And I have shared the two principles that will be part of a government that I lead.

No one left behind because we should always look after the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. But also no one held back, because we should always support aspiration and opportunity. That is what my government will do.

That is the what, but the how is also just as important? Because I want to bring Australians together.

I want to seek our common purpose and promote unity and not fear and -- optimism, not fear and division. It is what I have sought to do throughout my political life. And what I will bring to the leadership of our country, it is a show of strength to collaborate and work with people, not weakness.

I want to find that common ground where together we can plant our dreams. To unite around our shared love of this country, our shared faith in Australia's future, our shared values of fairness and opportunity, and hard work and kindness to those in need.

And I can promise all Australians this — no matter how you voted today, the government I lead will respect every one of you every day. And I'll seek to get your vote next time.

We are the greatest country on earth. But we can have an even better future if we seize the opportunities that are right there in front of us. The opportunity to shape change, rather than be shaped by it. And we can shape change more effectively if we seek to you knowing people on that journey of change.

Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower. Together we can work in common interests with business and unions to drive productivity, lift wages and profits.

I want an economy that works for people, not the other way around. Together we can as a country say that all of us, if the Fair Work Commission doesn't cut the wage of minimum aged workers, we can say that we welcome that absolutely. Together we can strengthen universal healthcare through Medicare.

We can protect universal superannuation. And we can write universal childcare into that proud tradition. Together we can fix the crisis in aged care. Together we can make forward equal opportunity for women a national economic and social priority. Together we can and will establish a national anti-corruption commission. Together we can be a self-reliant, resilient nation, confident in our values and in our place in the world. And together we can embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

We can answer its patient, gracious call for a voice enshrined in our constitution. Because all of us ought to be proud that amongst our great multicultural society we count the oldest living continuous culture in the world. And I acknowledge Australia's next Indigenous Affairs Minister, Linda Burney, who is here.

My fellow Australians, no one gets here by themselves. And I wouldn't be standing here tonight without the support, hard work and belief of so many people. To my parliamentary team, including my Deputy, Richard Marles, and my Senate leader, Penny Wong. My terrific economic team led by Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher.

On Monday morning, arrangements are in place to have these people sworn in as members of my team. To enable Penny and I to attend the important Quad leader's meeting in Tokyo, with President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Modi. And I want the leaders of the economic team to start work on Monday morning as well.

I wanted to thank my shadow ministry and my amazing caucus members, including the people who are here tonight at this joint function in the corner of our seats, including Tony Burke, who is here. I want to thank all of our Labor candidates. I want to thank all those who have worked so hard for this victory.

We stand on your shoulders, most rank and file members of the Labor Party will never ask for anything. They knock on doors, they make calls, they work so hard. They hand out how to votes. They push the cause of Labor at the local P & C, the local kid's footy, the local netball, when they're shopping in the supermarket, when they talk to their neighbours.

I thank each and every one of the true believers of the Australian Labor Party.

And I proudly thank the members of the mighty trade union movement.

I do want to thank my campaign director, our amazing national secretary, Paul Erickson, and his team. My staff are led by my first campaign director back in 1996. And my electorate office team who haven't seen that much of me, who look after this electorate led by Helen Rogers. Thank you very much.

But to all those — and I'm not going to name them because there's too many — there's a lot of people who believed in me and backed me over many decades in this great movement to be where I am today. You know who you are and I know who you are and I thank you.

I said I've been underestimated my whole life during the campaign. Now while all that is true, I have also been lifted up by others who saw something in me and who encouraged me in life on this journey.

And I pledged to the Australian people here tonight, I am here not to occupy the space, but to make a positive difference each and every day.

And to the amazing diverse people of Grayndler. All politics is local. And in 1996, there were various people who wrote off the chances of Labor holding on to that seat. This is my 10th election. And I want to say thank you for placing your faith in me. It is an absolute honour to be your voice in our national parliament.

To my partner, Jodie, thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey.

And to my proudest achievement, my son, Nathan. Thank you, mate, for your love and support. Your mother, who's here tonight, Carmel, we are both so proud of the caring, wonderful, smart young man you have become. Love you, Nathan.

To my Mum, who's beaming down on us. Thank you. And I hope there are families in public housing watching this tonight. Because I want every parent to be able to tell their child no matter where you live or where you come from, in Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all.

And like every other Labor government, we'll just widen that door a bit more. Friends, we have made history tonight. And tomorrow, together, we begin the work of building a better future. A better future for all Australians. Thank you very much."

Jordon Steele-John: 'The Morrison government let the community down', Response to the pandemic - 2022

8 February 2022, Canberra, Australia

I rise to speak on the motion to suspend standing orders. During this great COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian community—disabled people, older Australians, First Nations peoples, young people—needed their government. They needed their government to listen to them and to act to provide help. And over the last two years this Morrison government, time and time again, have failed. They have let the Australian community down. The Australian community said, 'Let us have vaccinations. Let them get to the people that need them. Let's get it in quick; let's learn from the failures of other jurisdictions around the world as they battled the pandemic,' and the Morrison government let us down. The Australian community said, 'Let us have income supports so that we can focus on getting better, rather than worrying about where our next meal comes from,' and the Morrison government let the community down. The community said, 'Let us access, for everyone, the basics that we need to be safe during the pandemic. Let us access RATs and masks and proper ventilation in our schools to keep our kids safe,' and the Morrison government let the community down. Failure compounded failure, and the outcome was people put at risk and people dying.

Disabled people in this country will never forgive this feckless government for its disgraceful failure to keep that community safe, to keep our community safe. We will never forgive you, nor will the older Australians of this country, nor will the First Nations peoples of this country and nor will the immunocompromised of this country, for propagating the absolute lie, the total misrepresentation, that it is acceptable for our lives to be lost in this pandemic and that anybody with an underlying condition can be and should be written off as collateral damage. You have done so much harm in your time here. So much good work that needed to be done has gone undone. So much time has been squandered. The work of so many dedicated community members during this pandemic, attempting to keep each other safe, has been undermined by the reality that this government sees human lives far more in dollars and cents than it does in inherent human value.

For all these reasons and so much more, this government divided, this government benighted, this government failed and rambling into ruin, must now be swept from this place. A lack of confidence does not nearly cover it. Condemnation and allocation to the dustbin of history is all that you deserve. May you go there and never be thought of nor spoken of again.

Anthony Albanese: 'I hope there are families in public housing watching this tonight', Election night victory speech - 2022

21 May 2022, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet. I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. And on behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart in full.

And I say to my fellow Australians, thank you for this extraordinary honour. Tonight, the Australian people have voted for change. I am humbled by this victory and I'm honoured to be given the opportunity to serve as the 31st prime minister of Australia.

My Labor team will work every day to bring Australians together. And I will lead a government worthy of the people of Australia. A government as courageous and hardworking and caring as the Australian people are themselves.

Earlier tonight, Scott Morrison called me to congratulate myself and the Labor Party on our victory at the election.

Scott, very graciously, wished me well. And I thanked him for that and I wish him well. And I thank him for the service that he has given to our country as Prime Minister.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Jenny Morrison and their two daughters for their contribution and sacrifice as well.

My fellow Australians, it says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mum who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia's prime minister.

Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars.

I want Australia to continue to be a country that no matter where you live, who you worship, who you love or what your last name is, that places no restrictions on your journey in life. My fellow Australians, I think they've got the name by now. I think they've got that.

I know at the beginning of the campaign they said people didn't know me but I reckon they've got it.

The final warning for Morrison fell on deaf ears. Now women have voted him out
Melbourne seats have left Liberal hands for the first time. But the election holds lessons for Labor too

During this campaign, I have put forward a positive, clear plan for a better future for our country. And I have shared the two principles that will be part of a government that I lead.

No one left behind because we should always look after the disadvantaged and the vulnerable. But also no one held back, because we should always support aspiration and opportunity. That is what my government will do.

That is the what, but the how is also just as important? Because I want to bring Australians together.

I want to seek our common purpose and promote unity and not fear and -- optimism, not fear and division. It is what I have sought to do throughout my political life. And what I will bring to the leadership of our country, it is a show of strength to collaborate and work with people, not weakness.

I want to find that common ground where together we can plant our dreams. To unite around our shared love of this country, our shared faith in Australia's future, our shared values of fairness and opportunity, and hard work and kindness to those in need.

And I can promise all Australians this — no matter how you voted today, the government I lead will respect every one of you every day. And I'll seek to get your vote next time.

We are the greatest country on earth. But we can have an even better future if we seize the opportunities that are right there in front of us. The opportunity to shape change, rather than be shaped by it. And we can shape change more effectively if we seek to you knowing people on that journey of change.

Together we can end the climate wars. Together we can take advantage of the opportunity for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower. Together we can work in common interests with business and unions to drive productivity, lift wages and profits.

I want an economy that works for people, not the other way around. Together we can as a country say that all of us, if the Fair Work Commission doesn't cut the wage of minimum aged workers, we can say that we welcome that absolutely. Together we can strengthen universal healthcare through Medicare.

We can protect universal superannuation. And we can write universal childcare into that proud tradition. Together we can fix the crisis in aged care. Together we can make forward equal opportunity for women a national economic and social priority. Together we can and will establish a national anti-corruption commission. Together we can be a self-reliant, resilient nation, confident in our values and in our place in the world. And together we can embrace the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

We can answer its patient, gracious call for a voice enshrined in our constitution. Because all of us ought to be proud that amongst our great multicultural society we count the oldest living continuous culture in the world. And I acknowledge Australia's next Indigenous Affairs Minister, Linda Burney, who is here.

My fellow Australians, no one gets here by themselves. And I wouldn't be standing here tonight without the support, hard work and belief of so many people. To my parliamentary team, including my Deputy, Richard Marles, and my Senate leader, Penny Wong. My terrific economic team led by Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher.

On Monday morning, arrangements are in place to have these people sworn in as members of my team. To enable Penny and I to attend the important Quad leader's meeting in Tokyo, with President Biden, Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Modi. And I want the leaders of the economic team to start work on Monday morning as well.

I wanted to thank my shadow ministry and my amazing caucus members, including the people who are here tonight at this joint function in the corner of our seats, including Tony Burke, who is here. I want to thank all of our Labor candidates. I want to thank all those who have worked so hard for this victory.

We stand on your shoulders, most rank and file members of the Labor Party will never ask for anything. They knock on doors, they make calls, they work so hard. They hand out how to votes. They push the cause of Labor at the local P & C, the local kid's footy, the local netball, when they're shopping in the supermarket, when they talk to their neighbours.

I thank each and every one of the true believers of the Australian Labor Party.

And I proudly thank the members of the mighty trade union movement.

I do want to thank my campaign director, our amazing national secretary, Paul Erickson, and his team. My staff are led by my first campaign director back in 1996. And my electorate office team who haven't seen that much of me, who look after this electorate led by Helen Rogers. Thank you very much.

But to all those — and I'm not going to name them because there's too many — there's a lot of people who believed in me and backed me over many decades in this great movement to be where I am today. You know who you are and I know who you are and I thank you.

I said I've been underestimated my whole life during the campaign. Now while all that is true, I have also been lifted up by others who saw something in me and who encouraged me in life on this journey.

And I pledged to the Australian people here tonight, I am here not to occupy the space, but to make a positive difference each and every day.

And to the amazing diverse people of Grayndler. All politics is local. And in 1996, there were various people who wrote off the chances of Labor holding on to that seat. This is my 10th election. And I want to say thank you for placing your faith in me. It is an absolute honour to be your voice in our national parliament.

To my partner, Jodie, thank you for coming into my life and for sharing this journey.

And to my proudest achievement, my son, Nathan. Thank you, mate, for your love and support. Your mother, who's here tonight, Carmel, we are both so proud of the caring, wonderful, smart young man you have become. Love you, Nathan.

To my Mum, who's beaming down on us. Thank you. And I hope there are families in public housing watching this tonight. Because I want every parent to be able to tell their child no matter where you live or where you come from, in Australia the doors of opportunity are open to us all.

And like every other Labor government, we'll just widen that door a bit more. Friends, we have made history tonight. And tomorrow, together, we begin the work of building a better future. A better future for all Australians. Thank you very much."

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells: 'An autocrat and a bully who has no moral compass', Senate speech about Scott Morrison - 2022

29 March 2022, Canberra, Australia

Given the events and outcomes of the dodgy preselection where I lost by a handful of votes last Saturday, my time in this place will finish on June 30, 2022. Accordingly, there are a few matters I wish to place on the record before my departure. Many in this place would be aware of the history I have had with Scott Morrison. Let me give some clarity and context to that history so there can be no misunderstanding.

In order to understand the man, it is best to look at his past actions. While professing to be a man of faith and claiming centre right status, Morrison is a product of the left, having worked for Bruce Baird. He is adept at running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds, lacking a moral compass and having no conscience. His actions conflict with his portrayal as a man of faith. He has used his so-called faith as a marketing advantage. We learnt the leader of his Hillsong Church group, Brian Houston, was a mentor to Morrison. Houston recently stood down as head of Hillsong because he was charged with sexual offences. It is noteworthy that, in the past, Houston flew top cover for his paedophile father.

[Editor’s note: Houston was not charged with sexual offences, but resigned after being found to have breached Hillsong’s code of conduct.]

When Morrison worked for Tourism Australia, he backstabbed his minister Fran Bailey. Eventually he was fired from the position. As state director of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party, Morrison honed his manipulative skills when overseeing the Wentworth preselection to unseat Peter King. About 120 membership applications were rejected to help Turnbull get selected, the person Morrison ultimately backstabbed.

Morrison might profess to be Christian, but there was nothing Christian about what was done to Michael Towke. When Morrison made his run for the seat of Cook, there were several hopefuls, including Towke, Fletcher and Coleman. Towke won the ballot in the first round with 84 votes. Morrison got eight votes. Having lost the ballot, Morrison and his cronies went to Sam Dastyari to get dirt on Towke, who had been in the Labor Party for a period of time whilst at university. This dossier of anecdotes was weaponised and leaked to the media to the point where Towke’s reputation was destroyed.

I am advised that there are several statutory declarations to attest to racial comments made by Morrison at the time that we can’t have a Lebanese person in Cook. The state executive voted 12 to 11 not to endorse Towke and ordered a modified selection process. The only way that Towke could get political exoneration for a future run was to agree to put his numbers behind Morrison. Morrison met with David Clarke and I and promised various things. Of course he took our votes and never delivered.

After the selection Towke joined my staff. He subsequently sued the newspapers for defamation. He won his cases but this was cold comfort. Morrison, his cronies and the Liberal establishment in New South Wales had destroyed a good, young man. I regret the day that Clarke and I agreed to put Morrison into Cook. Since then Morrison has never faced a preselection. Hence the trampling of members’ rights in New South Wales. Denying them proper preselections and installing captain’s picks is classic Morrison.

He and his consigliore, Alex Hawke, have deliberately contrived a crisis in New South Wales through a year of delays in not having selections. Hawke, as his representative on state executive for months and months, failed to attend nomination review committee meetings to review candidates, thereby holding up preselections. Spurious arguments were mounted to justify the unjustifiable. The constitution was trashed. There is a putrid stench of corruption emanating from the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party.

All of this was under the eye of Philip Ruddock. As a former attorney-general, I am appalled that he has allowed Morrison to bully his way to a situation where the next election has been put at risk all to save Hawke’s career. This is what it’s all about. Hawke knows that if he faces a plebiscite preselection, he will lose. Morrison has railroaded federal executive into setting up not only a committee which endorsed Hawke, Ley and Zimmerman but a second committee which is now endorsing captain’s picks in seats like Parramatta and Hughes, which were scheduled for preselections this week.

So what is the hold that Hawke has over Morrison? Good question, especially given Hawke’s own corrupt antics in New South Wales. During a speech advocating for a federal integrity commission, I referred to Hawke’s activities and the dealings of the Baulkham Hills branch. At a meeting in 2018, 10 members were admitted to the branch. This was confirmed in text messages from the branch secretary. Hawke was present at the meeting. He saw what went on. I’m told there is video evidence of the meeting. I also have relevant documents, including correspondence sent to Morrison on the issue.

After the meeting, the minutes were falsified to show that the 10 members were not accepted. Statutory declarations were provided to counter this falsity. The branch was eventually suspended by state executive. The branch president and secretary, both acolytes of Hawke, refused to provide statutory declarations. Despite clear evidence of fraud, Hawke’s role in this process has never been fully disclosed. The New South Wales state director has sat on this matter for years. Legal proceedings are now on foot, and I look forward to the day when Hawke will be required to give evidence under oath to explain his corrupt conduct.

There is a very appropriate saying here: the fish stinks from the head. Morrison and Hawke have ruined the Liberal Party in New South Wales by trampling its constitution. Indeed, I understand at a federal executive meeting Morrison was asked whether he was running a protection racket in New South Wales.

In recent months I have kept members of the division updated. I have received hundreds, if not thousands, of emails outlining their disgust. They have lost faith in the party. They want to leave. They don’t like Morrison and they don’t trust him. They continue to despair at our prospects at the next federal election, and they blame Morrison for this. Our members do not want to help in the upcoming election. By now you might be getting the picture that Morrison is not interested in rules-based order. It is his way or the highway — an autocrat and a bully who has no moral compass.

Now to my own situation. Having lost by a handful of votes last Saturday and having analysed the data, I know the numbers tell their own story. Clearly, my push for democracy in the New South Wales division was certainly not welcome. This would mean that the factional operatives can’t control preselections. For years, figures in the Liberal Party have denied the existence of factions and criticised the ALP. This is hypocrisy, given that the Liberal Party is now no different to the Labor Party.

In addition, having been a critic of Morrison on a range of policy matters, I was a marked woman. I have known for a number of years of the machinations involving the PMO and others to move me on. Recent media reports confirmed a deal agreed to by Hawke, Yaron Finkelstein from the PMO, Charles Perrottet, Dallas McInerney, Trent Zimmerman and Matt Kean. In my case, Dallas McInerney from Catholic Schools NSW was encouraged to run against me. Realising he did not have support from the conservative base to win a preselection, they resorted to getting Jim Molan to run, despite Molan having promised he would only see out the Sinodinos term.

In my case, Wade McInerney, brother of Dallas, worked in my office for five years. Following his departure to work for Robert Assaf at Greyhound Racing NSW, I discovered he was engaged in inappropriate conduct and activities. I was duty-bound to refer him to the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Finance and the Australian Government Security Vetting Agency.

Having engaged lawyers and fought hard for a preselection, I got it because my enemies realised my strong support from delegates meant Plan B had to be implemented. Dom Perrottet’s premiership is held together by a thread through a so-called unity deal with the Kean-Poulos left. For years the Perrottets have railed against Hawke, threatening to prosecute the Baulkham Hills matter but never delivering. The Perrottets, the McInerneys, Assaf etc had only about 30 votes between them. In the ultimate act of treachery those numbers were press-ganged into voting for Hawke’s candidate, Molan. Why? In short, the so-called conservative premier aligned with his so-called enemy Hawke to do a deal: Morrison gets his captain’s picks in federal seats and no state members jump ship to the federal arena, which would in turn have crippled the premiership of a supine and weak state leader.

In my public life I have met ruthless people. Morrison tops the list, followed closely by Hawke. Morrison is not fit to be prime minister and Hawke certainly is not fit to be a minister.

Scott Morrison: 'Our goal is to get through this together', Address to nation on covid-19 -2020

24 March 2020, Canberra, Australia

View video here

I said in the Parliament that 2020, for most Australians, was going to be their toughest year. And what we have seen unfold just this week has been demonstrating just that.

Australians who have lost their jobs, lost hours of work, businesses that have been forced to close their business — these are heartbreaking events in our nation's history and story.

And I want to assure all Australians the National Cabinet has been meeting, and state governments also, and we've considered the many, many difficult issues we're having to address. We are not unconscious of the real impacts that these measures are having on the daily lives of Australians and so we will continue to do everything we can, both as a federal government and as state and territory governments around the country, to do all we can to support our people through what is going to be an incredibly difficult time.

The queues that we saw outside Centrelink, the challenges and frustrations people have had in gaining access is a sheer function of the extraordinary and overwhelming demand, and we will work night and day to ensure that we can get more capacity into these systems. But what this reflects is the size of the need and the size of that need is demonstrated by the impacts of what the coronavirus and the many things that governments are having to do to limit its health impacts across the country and to ensure that we can protect the lives of Australians.

But our goal is to get through this together and by following common sense rules, and doing the right thing, that's how we slow the spread of this virus and that's how we save lives.

It also means that when we all do that, that we can potentially limit further economic harm from other measures. Not all states, I want to stress, are in the same position. Some states, particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, are far more advanced on the progression of this virus than other states and territories. But tonight, despite the variations that do exist, there is a strong will for states and territories to seek to move together wherever they possibly can to ensure a consistency of application of the various rules and arrangements that we are putting in place across the country.

Tonight, we agreed to extend the restrictions that were announced on Sunday night, but to do so in a manner that was consistent with the types of measures that we announced on Sunday night. What I mean by that is there was an initial list of activities that largely went to the issues of social gatherings, particularly in enclosed spaces, that was being done to restrict the amount of contact between people outside activities such as going to work and things of that nature. And so tonight, we worked to complete that list of those types of activities that we believe are appropriate at this time to slow the spread of the virus to ensure that we are covering all the necessary activities and business functions inside premises that should be considered at this time.

And so, from midnight tomorrow night, all of these following activities, and they include some I have already announced from earlier, will no longer be taking place. Cafes, I have already said, but for takeaway, that will continue. So, no change to the issues around cafes. Food courts and* shopping centres will not be allowed to continue. But getting takeaway from those food outlets in those shopping centres, that can continue because take away is able to be done.

In the retail space, auction houses, gatherings together in auction rooms, that can no longer continue. Real estate auctions and open house inspections, in particular open house inspections — that cannot continue.

Outdoor and indoor markets, excluding food markets like Flemington and things like, because that is essential to ensure the food supply right across the country, they will be addressed specifically by states and territories in each of their jurisdictions. States and territories have very different arrangements in terms of the types of markets they have and they'll be making those decisions specific to their states and territories, but the point and the principle is very clear — large gatherings brought together by particular organised events are things we have seeking to avoid. And that is the principle the states and territories will be seeking to follow.

In terms of personal services, where there is a lot of contact obviously between those providing that service in a premise, and the patrons, the following now won't be able to continue: Beauty therapy, tanning, waxing, nail salons and tattoo parlours and same for spa and massage parlours. That excludes health-related services in those areas, physiotherapists, things of that nature, health related and allied health services. Hairdressers and barber shops will continue to be able to provide those services but it is very important that they strictly manage the social-distancing and limitations of the number of people in their premise, so that's four square metres per person. And on top of that, to restrict the amount of time a patron is in the premise to no more than 30 minutes. And preferably less.

Cinemas, nightclubs, casinos, gaming or gambling venues, all of those were included in the announcement on Sunday, as were adult entertainment venues, concert venues, theatres, arenas, auditoriums, stadiums, they are all included in what we said on Sunday evening.
Coronavirus update: Follow all the latest news in our daily wrap

Amusement parks and arcades are now included. Play centres, both indoor and outdoor, are also now included.

Community and recreation centres, health clubs, fitness centres, yoga, barre — I hope I pronounced that correctly, I might need some help with that, I'm not quite sure what that is to be honest — but B-A-R-R-E, for those looking for the specific definition, and spin facilities, saunas, bath houses, wellness centres. Boot camps and personal training is limited to a maximum of 10 people. And the social-distancing arrangements must be strictly enforced.

Social, sporting based activities, swimming pools. Now, I'll come back to the social and sporting-based activities in a second to explain what we mean by that. That's large groups of people gathering together to play soccer in a community oval and things of that nature. You can see what we're trying to do, we're trying to limit the gathering of people in large numbers that can relate to the transmitting of the virus through those social interactions which are not considered necessary.

Galleries, museums, national institutions, historic sites, libraries, community centres, youth centres, local government non-essential facilities, libraries and swimming pools. Community facilities such as community halls, RSLs, PCYCs. Many of those were already included in what I said on Sunday night and of course, places of worship. In places of worship and other similar type venues there has been a very difficult decision we've had to make tonight in relation to weddings and in relation to funerals.

Now, weddings can continue to be conducted where it is just the couple, the celebrant and the witnesses. That's no more than five people and the four square metre rule has to be observed within the venue in which that is taking place. But, large gatherings for weddings, sadly, won't be possible under these new arrangements. And sadly, also, and I know this will be very difficult, funerals to no more than 10 persons observing the rules around the four square metre rule and the social-distancing practices. Particularly on these types of activities this is not an easy decision. Where we have already found, and Dr Murphy can speak to this, some of the events that have been some of the major transmitting events, it has been exactly these types of events, particularly weddings. And that is why, regretfully, we have to be able to put these arrangements in place. Now, these are the rules and arrangements that are applied when it comes to the strict enforcement of these arrangements and that will come in from midnight tomorrow night and states and territories will be moving tomorrow to put those arrangements in place.

Now, there are some also very important further rules that we want people to follow, just like the 1.5-metre rule. Just like washing your hands and coughing into your elbow. And doing those straight-forward things.

That is, to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary that you go out.

Going out for the basics, going out for exercise, perhaps with your partner or family members, provided it's a small group, that's fine. But going outside and going out and participating more broadly in the community unless you're shopping for basics or there are medical needs or you're providing care or support to another individual at another place. Going to work and where you cannot work from home. That is encouraged. Strongly encouraged to work from home where you can do that.

Visits to your premises, to your house, to your residence, should be kept to a minimum and with very small numbers of guests. We don't want to be overly specific about that, we want Australians to exercise their common sense. So that means barbecues of lots of friends, or even family, extended family, coming together to celebrate one-year-old birthday parties and all these sorts of things, we can't do those things now. These will be significant sacrifices, I know. We've all been to those events as extended families and gatherings. And gathering together in that way, even around the large family table in the family home when all the siblings get together and bring the kids, these are not things we can do now.

All of these things present risks and they obviously present them to the elderly members of our families as well, who we need to protect.

House parties where someone wants to now have the social events, not at clubs and venues like that but to organise a party at someone's home, the states and territories will be particularly looking at that one and be considering whether they will put specific measures in place that could lead to that being an offence for those who have organised those types of events.

Outdoors, do not congregate together in groups. Now, the medical experts panel have made suggestions about how that can be managed. It's very difficult to put a number on it. But the point about it is this: If you're gathering together in a group, say 10 people, together, outside in a group, that's not OK.

We've got to move people on. It's not a hard and fast rule. I say it only for illustrative purposes. The point is that you should only be going outside of your home to go to those essential things that I talked about, not to go and congregate together in groups. We need you to stop doing that. That is not going to help.

If we do all these things then we are going to be able to put greater pressure on slowing the rate of the spread of this virus, which in particular in New South Wales and Victoria has been growing at a much more rapid rate than other places, and the numbers in Queensland have been similarly affected.

Now on schools, the medical advice on schools has not changed. It is safe to send your children to school.

Tomorrow, I'll be meeting — and there has been discussions today between the Education Minister, Dan Tehan, and the education national unions, and I will be meeting with them tomorrow to discuss a set of arrangements that we would like to proceed with, that importantly keep schools open, that also will protect those teachers and other staff who are working in schools and to work through those issues to ensure we can put acceptable arrangements in place to ensure that children get taught.

I said this the other day: This is incredibly important. It's going to be a tough year in 2020 and one of the things I don't want to have yielded up is a year of a child's education, which is so important. We need to work so hard together to try and ensure that those kids get that education and that is not lost to this virus. So, I look forward to meeting with Australian Education Union tomorrow and to have that conversation and to see how we can come together and agree how we can continue to deliver that while doing that safely for those who work in schools and, of course, for the kids themselves. As we know, the medical advice is kids can safely go to schools. Under the arrangements we have already put in place we have seen the number of students attending schools reduce significantly. That actually assists in observing the other issues around social distancing that are applying more broadly across the community. So we can do this. We can work this out. That would mean ensuring the schools in those states that haven't already ended the term, which is only Victoria, that we would be able to continue to keep those schools open up to the end of the term, but I would anticipate that for several days prior to the end of the term there will need to be pupil-free days while the teachers and the school staff work on the projects they have already been pursuing on extending distance learning.

That will be an important job for those educators to be learning as we go into the term break. Schools, we agree, across the country, would need to reopen on the other side of the term break because it won't be a holiday. It won't be a school holiday given the arrangements I have just outlined to you. They will reconvene after the term break and there will be a mixture of both distance learning and where parents choose to keep their children at home, then there will be the learning that is there for them to undertake and the parents would be needing to take responsibility for ensuring that their children are engaged in that.

For all those workers who need to send their children to school, that's why the school needs to remain open. Now if you ask me who is an essential worker? Someone who has a job. Everyone who has a job in this economy is an essential worker. Every single job that is being done in our economy with these severe restrictions that are taking place is essential. It can be essential in a service whether it's a nurse or a doctor or a schoolteacher, or a public servant who is working tonight to ensure that we can get even greater capacity in our Centrelink offices, working until eight o'clock under the new arrangement in the call centres, these are all essential jobs. People are stacking shelves, that is essential. People earning money in their family when another member of their family may have lost their job and can no longer earn, that's an essential job. Jobs are essential. And everyone who has one needs to be able to keep doing their job and that means they will need to continue to be able to send their children to school for an education, for an education at that school.

So, I look forward to having those discussions tomorrow and I'm sure there will be a common sense of purpose in ensuring that we can meet the objectives and keep the nation functioning and providing the necessary education for children, the protection that is necessary for staff and to keep Australia running.

Now, before I go to Professor Murphy, there are one or two other things I had to mention. The national security task force that works on the coronavirus also met this evening. We have previously had a do-not-travel warning on Smart Traveller in terms of all overseas travel, that will turn into a ban. Using the biosecurity powers that were afforded to us by the Governor-General through the Minister for Health, now, the numbers of Australians going overseas has reduced dramatically. There will be exceptions to these rules which will be set out in the directive that will be provided. But this would include people involved in aid work in the Pacific and the support that we're providing. It may involve compassionate travel and essential travel for employment, things of that nature. The number of people and the number who are leaving Australia now is very, very low. But, still, it strikes me on those numbers that there are people defying that device and still looking to go overseas on leisure travel. They can't do it because when they come home they put Australians at risk. I had hoped that that would have been fully complied with and I've got to say Australians have been pretty good about it but we need to put that arrangement in place.

Also, we are putting in place arrangements that will make it an offence and we'll be able to seize at the border those who have engaged in profiteering by bringing together and making large purchases of various supplies in Australia and seeking to export them overseas. Now, it doesn't relate to normal commercial legal activities, but we have been able to seize at the border, and the Minister for Home Affairs can speak more to this, quantities of materials that were seeking to be sent overseas and that is not helping Australia. That is not consistent with doing the right thing and there will be penalties and enforcement and we will be able to seize that equipment. That could include medical supplies and include personal protective equipment, and that will be seized and redeployed to its best use here in Australia.

So with those changes, there was still a lot more we needed to deal with tonight, but we knew we needed to report tonight and the National Cabinet will meet again tomorrow evening at the same time to work through a series of other issues which includes further considering possible measures down the track. So, we're well prepared should we have to move to that stage and the thresholds that would be necessary to move to those other arrangements. It will also consider the issue of leases, that I flagged earlier, that will be considered. And there will be other matters that have been raised by Premiers and Chief Ministers that we'll address as we go forward as well. I apologise for the length. It has been a busy night and hopefully that's been very clear.