Top CEOs, directors call for clearer COVID-19 Plan

Top CEOs, directors call for clearer COVID-19 Plan

Emma Koehn and Elizabeth Knight, The Sydney Morning Herald, 08 August 2020

Senior executives of some of Australia’s largest companies have called for governments to provide a clearer long-term blueprint for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. “I would say that all business leaders a looking for a plan, and a plan that takes us through multiple sets of circumstances,” said Virgin Australia CEO, Paul Scurrah. Similarly, Chief Executive of nib Group, Mark Fitzgibbon, said “we need to learn to live with the threat” and government must “err on the side of caution,” when making decisions about restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus. Mr Fitzgibbon also said that he was increasingly concerned about the situation in the United States as “America is a major source of investment and trade, and I think potentially difficulties in America have much as an impact as domestic decisions.” To solve economic problems in our domestic market, “the thing we have to do differently is to promote investment.” Mr Murray also recommended that the government should increase sponsorship of serious national projects to lift employment and add value to the economy for the long-term.