LENDLEASE CALLS FOR VACCINE PASSPORTS TO HELP ECONOMY
LENDLEASE chief executive Tony Lombardo is headed for a summit in London as British prime minister Boris Johnson throws off the shackles of coronavirus restrictions and chases ideas from business about kickstarting the country’s economy.
Mr Lombardo, who has just notched up 100 days as CEO, said he was in favour of vaccine passports if they helped open up borders and backed the road map to reopening the local economy.
“Their government’s talking about how do we get the economy moving? ‘What are the things we need to do?’
They want to talk to big business to get a level of confidence and I think that’s great,” he said.
The development boss also backed prime minister Scott Morrison‘s plans to re-open international borders once the country hits vaccination targets and backed passports.
“We should have vaccination passports, if that’s what it needs us to have, let’s do it. If it means opening the borders up and having confidence that people have taken the right health steps, I think that’s important,” he said.
He said Australia wanted to be part of global markets and it was crucial to start opening back up, including a return to net migration levels of about 200,000 people per annum.
“I think it’s important to start to see that road map,” Mr Lombardo said.
Lendlease is backing a big comeback in Australia’s currently locked down capitals.
“Cities are where the action is and that’s where things thrive,” he said. “When you look at a city environment, we’ve made so much infrastructure investment, and it’s actually the best place to really grow back from.”
He is optimistic the world is coming out of the pandemic. “I think there are enough green shoots emerging for us to really be more positive,” he said.