The Federal Government has announced that as of midnight tonight, in addition to those prohibitions announced earlier this week, the following activities and venues are also prohibited:
Hairdressers and barber shops are to adhere to the 1 person per 4 square metre rule in the premises and appointments limited to up to 30 minutes. Further, funerals must be limited to 10 people and weddings will have a maximum attendance of no more than 5 people, whilst also observing the 1 person per 4 square metre rule.
For a complete list of prohibited activities and venues, see the Australian Government website
David Littleproud, the Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management has been regularly meeting with the agriculture industries by telephone. Our most recent hook-up was today, where the Minister made it very clear that the agriculture industries, including wine were classed as essential – that the movement of labour, freight and supply of inputs for these sectors would be maintained in the COVID-19 crisis. Agriculture was seen not only as essential to provide food during the crisis, but also as an important part of the recovery process. The state of the vintage situation in Australia is clearly understood, and with this, the need to keep grapes being harvested and processing plants operating.
The appointment of Mark Tucker is a critical one, and gives us the opportunity to communicate directly and quickly when issues occur. This could include cross border movements and the like. The Minister is appreciative of the work our organisation and others are doing, by providing a conduit of information out to the sector, and raising critical issues requiring government response back to him.
