Dear Friend,

The last few months have given us a reminder of the things that are really important. 

Our health and wellbeing. A strong health system. A growing economy. 

Our jobs. Our children’s education. Caring for our elderly. 

The selfless service of everyday Australians. Above all, supporting each other. 

Australia has shown how we can meet our challenges and pull together. 

We have been fighting the virus and we are winning. 

We are delivering economic lifelines, including JobKeeper and JobSeeker. 

We have strengthened our health system and put protections in place – with more testing and contact tracing, more ICU beds, more ventilators and more personal protective equipment. 

Yesterday, the National Cabinet outlined a three step plan for a COVID safe Australia. 

Step one enables greater connection to family and friends. This can include: 

• Five visitors at home.
• Gatherings of up to 10 people.
• Some restaurants and cafes can begin reopening.
• Libraries, community centres, playgrounds and boot camps open.
• Local and regional travel. 

Step two enables gatherings of up to 20 people. It is likely to include more retailers being open, along with gyms, beauty parlours, cinemas, galleries, amusement parks and caravan and camping grounds and some interstate travel. 

Step three enables gatherings of up to 100 people. It will likely mean a return to work for most workers, a resumption of interstate travel and the opening of pubs and clubs, with some restrictions. 

States will move through these steps at different times and make different decisions based on their local conditions. National Cabinet will review the steps every three weeks.  

However, at this stage it is our aspiration that in July, we will have moved through these steps. 

Treasury estimates these steps could see around 850,000 jobs restored in the months ahead. 

There will be risks, there will be challenges, there will be outbreaks, there will be setbacks. 

However, we cannot allow our fear of going backwards, to stop us going forwards. 

A year ago I made a promise to all Australians, that we would work to keep our economy strong, keep Australians safe and keep Australians together. 

That’s the fight we’ve been in and the fight we’ll win together.

Regards,

Scott Morrison
Prime Minister