Page 945 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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We should be tremendously proud, as a community, of this achievement. However, because of the nature of this virus, we all need to remain vigilant and restructure our services and response measures to keep Canberra functional and safe, because we cannot afford to relax too soon.
At a national level the situation has also been encouraging. Australia had almost 5,000 cases on 2 April, and now that rate of growth has significantly flattened, with only an additional 2,000 cases added in the last month. Deaths, however, have tragically increased from 23 on 2 April to almost 100 today. Internationally, though, the figures on what has transpired across the globe since 2 April are sobering. Cases have increased from around one million to over three million. Deaths have increased from just a little over 50,000 to approaching 250,000. We can only hope that the eventual global death toll is not as high as many experts are predicting.
Our response to the COVID-19 situation has seen the community and government work together to focus on supporting Canberrans in this critical time of need. With government direction, including through the operation of the security and emergency management committee of cabinet, this action across the breadth of the public service has been led by directors-general, their deputies and the Chief Health Officer closely coordinating action on the ground and advice to assist government decision-making.
As part of that effort, resources have been focused on identifying the crucial legislative actions required to underpin our public health response, to support the community and provide for adjustment at all levels to deal with the impact of COVID-19. The legislative amendments in the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020, which commenced on 8 April, were the first part of the effort to ensure the essential and necessary operation of ACT government and effective service provision over the coming period.
Since that time, the government has considered future operational requirements in light of COVID-19. Due to the significant number of changes required across government, urgent and necessary amendments are proposed in this bill before the Assembly today. Directors-general, ministers and cabinet have actively and critically examined a long list of proposed reforms and reduced that list significantly to only those that are genuinely required to change in this short time frame, for the benefit of our community, our economy, our households, and the operation of justice. Amendments that arise as the government continues to reprioritise work can be considered for inclusion in subsequent omnibus bills.
I take this opportunity to thank the team from JACS for coordinating this project. It has been an exceptional effort and has taken many, many hours of work across the first and second bills.
I have recently remarked that, beyond our national capital role, Canberra is an inclusive, vibrant and caring community, where we aim for everyone to share in the benefits of our city. We are being tested at the moment in ways that most of us have not been tested before. Elements of this bill will give us the best chance of overcoming these hurdles and working towards Canberra’s recovery over the coming months and years.
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