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Scott Morrison sat stony faced in the cabinet room looking like he'd seen a ghost. He'd been at work almost every day since late December, when he had thrown himself into the bushfire crisis after an ill-judged holiday in Hawaii.

The nation was facing the deadliest health crisis in a century and the worst economic challenge since the Great Depression. He would say to colleagues at the time: "I see the full horror show every single hour of every single day".

On the afternoon of Thursday, March 26, Morrison summoned a handful of senior journalists, one from each mainstream outlet, to meet him in the cabinet room where he would speak frankly about the state of play. He would do this on a handful of occasions during the coming weeks. John Curtin, Labor prime minister from 1941 to 1945, did the same thing during World War II.

Curtin was a journalist. Morrison from marketing. Both knew the importance of sending a clear, calm and concise message to a worried nation. A handful of late-night, waffling press conferences had led to fierce criticism the PM's communication was missing the mark. He had some catching up to do.

Health Minister Greg Hunt, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy in early March.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In the previous five days the Prime Minister had ordered the nation's borders shut, spent $66 billion on doubling payments for welfare recipients, and ordered the lockdown of Australia to commence. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin had suspended all international flights, standing down more than 20,000 employees. The Reserve Bank had slashed the cash rate to a record low of 0.25 per cent.

Bars, clubs, cinemas, places of worship, casinos and gyms had shut. Soon more than a million Australians would be out of work. Lengthy queues outside Centrelink, scenes not witnessed since the recession of 1991, dominated the front pages. Global cases of COVID-19 had surpassed 410,000 with almost 19,000 deaths, while Australia's 2432 was climbing rapidly, with nine deaths and many more in hospital.

Morrison referred to it as a "dual crisis" where the two goals, saving lives and saving livelihoods, seemingly worked against each other. The more you do to help one, he'd say, the more harm you do on the other. He knew as many could die from the economic circumstance as the health crisis. Suicides, domestic violence and eventually even potential civil unrest.

Centrelink queues stretched hundreds of metres.Credit:Nick Moir

The media and Morrison's political opponents had seized on divisions between the Prime Minister and some state premiers, who five days earlier appeared to push him further than he was planning on social distancing restrictions.

Some of those critics would accuse him of implementing a herd immunity strategy - letting a large number of people catch a disease and hence develop immunity to it. Privately he referred to such an approach as "unconscionable".

The select group of journalists invited to the exclusive briefings would keep much of the detail of their initial 90-minute discussion to themselves. But they would later remark on the agony and exhaustion on the Prime Minister's face when discussing balancing the twin crises.

Morrison was adamant there was no division between him and his national cabinet colleagues, in particular Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. They all agreed where the country needed to get to in terms of restrictions, Morrison said, but there was a difference of opinion on how soon to get there. He was fearful of putting too much too quickly on the Australian people.

"I know where it is I'm trying to get them to and it's the same place without scaring them to death," he would say.

As daily cases grew and politicians foreshadowed tougher measures, the concern about what lay ahead manifested in curious ways. The mood would deteriorate daily until it verged on a national crisis.

On social media, videos showed people swarming grocery stores and fighting over essentials such as toilet paper. Police were called to a Costco supermarket in Sydney to help organise masses of shoppers who were panic buying.

ANZ would later report spending on groceries and toiletries in the week ending March 20 was up 80 per cent on the same period last year. Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kleenex, ramped up its manufacturing lines in South Australia to deal with shortages.

The toilet roll situation was so inflammatory in Australia it required police supervision.Credit:AAP

Morrison met with Coles and Woolworths executives to assess the situation, while Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was on the phone with them constantly. Friends and family were relaying scenes from their local shops. Unverified reports of organised raids from city shoppers on regional supermarkets had come through and Frydenberg told Coles chief executive officer Steven Cain he was worried there would be violence, even pondering the need to station police outside each store. Seniors shopping hours were introduced. Bans on shoppers buying more than one pack of toilet paper were extended to limits on other essentials such as flour and pasta.

On Wednesday, March 18, Morrison had clearly had enough. Announcing his government had, for the first time in history, upgraded the travel ban on Australians to level four for the entire world, he snapped. Standing in the Prime Minister's courtyard, staring down the barrel of the TV cameras, he said: "Stop hoarding".

"I can't be more blunt about it. Stop it. That is not who we are as a people," he said. Perhaps for the first time, a prime minister also had to tell Australians not to abuse retail staff.

"We're all in this together. People are doing their jobs. They're doing their best."

As cases doubled almost every three days, surging from fewer than 200 to greater than 2000 within 12 days, Australia's trajectory of infection on March 21 was comparable to the nightmare scenario in the United States, Britain and parts of Europe. The mercury had hit 37 degrees in Sydney on Friday, March 20, and thousands defied a ban on outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people to flock to Bondi Beach.

At 5.34pm journalist Tom Steinfort tweeted a photograph of hordes of beachgoers that quickly went around the world. A panicked state government closed most of its beaches the following day.

A red-faced NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard would confirm three people on the cruise ship Ruby Princess - which had docked and allowed 2700 passengers to disembark in Sydney on the Thursday - had tested positive to COVID-19.

The unified front that the nation's leaders had been at pains to present began to fracture.

Thousands flocked to Bondi Beach on Friday, March 20.Credit:AAP

Like the broader population, business leaders and politicians shared coronavirus studies, international media reports and statistics on social media platforms such as WhatsApp. Many believed the federal government had taken reasonable steps to curb infection rates but needed to move into a form of lockdown. These included ANZ chairman David Gonski, former UBS Australia boss Matthew Grounds and Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder and co-chief executive of the software company Atlassian.

Gonski, who is one of the best connected people in Australia, spoke to NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, urging the state government to take steps to contain the spread. Perrottet had also sought the views of former Virgin boss John Borghetti and ex-Macquarie Group chief Nicholas Moore, the chairman of the Sydney Opera House Trust and soon-to-be federal government adviser on the sale of Virgin.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, pictured with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard, ramped up the campaign for lockdown.Credit:Steven Siewert

But Berejiklian was already ahead of them. She and Andrews were in constant contact throughout Saturday and then again on that critical Sunday as they began ramping up the campaign for lockdown.

Morrison was midway through a press conference in the Prime Minister's Courtyard when he was asked by a journalist about a new push by NSW and Victoria for a total shutdown. It appeared to be an ambush. Both states had telegraphed their intent through the media in an attempt to force Morrison's hand.

In a terse response Morrison said he would be guided by the health advice and if he had a view would raise it in national cabinet, not in answer to a question from journalists.

"That's the orderly and calm way to deal with these things, and to make decisions in a responsible manner," he said.

Scott Morrison faces the press in a Parliament House courtyard.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Morrison spoke with Berejiklian again in the early afternoon to argue against the total closures the premiers were advocating. He believed the states were adding to confusion rather than issuing clear guidance.

Berejiklian's statement on Sunday signalled a "more comprehensive shutdown of non-essential services", while Andrews announced a shutdown of "all non-essential activity" across the state.

In a hastily arranged Sunday night national cabinet meeting, which had previously been scheduled for Tuesday, Morrison managed to talk both states back from the full-scale proposals they had floated. But there was no doubt they had pushed the PM further than he wanted.

All members of the national cabinet accepted the need for shutdowns but some were dismayed at the way the confusion spread. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk spoke out at the campaign which had undermined the cabinet process. Canberra's biggest fear was businesses would begin sacking workers the next morning unless there was a clear list of essential and non-essential workplaces.

Multiple sources on the national cabinet call said Morrison could not hide his frustration at the fact the two big states had attempted to railroad the plan.

Scott Morrison and Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy sanitise their hands before entering a National Cabinet meeting.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Not everyone was on their side, either. He had a right to be annoyed," one said.

But Andrews would later defend his actions, saying if Victoria had waited a fortnight, or even a week, the virus would have spread beyond control.

"You've got a moment, and you've got a real sense that if you don't do something now, you won't get this moment back," he said on reflection. It was to be the biggest test of unity the national cabinet would face.

The Ruby Princess debacle would also prove an ongoing point of tension between NSW and the federal government. By April 22 at least 20 deaths and 696 confirmed cases one in 10 of Australia's known cases at the time would be traced back to the ship. The outbreak would eventually become subject to criminal investigation.

In later weeks there was another skirmish over reopening schools, after Morrison released a video to the tabloid newspapers pleading with teachers to return to classrooms so kids could resume classroom learning. Andrews expressed his frustration, reminding the Prime Minister it was the states and territories that ran schools. Morrison ended up issuing a mea culpa to colleagues. He then told parents to listen to their premier or chief minister. The united front clung on.

By March 17, three Coalition MPs had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and had potentially exposed more colleagues. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson would end up in intensive care after the virus ran through 10 Downing Street.

Morrison's office of about 50 staff was divided up. Only those essential to the day-to-day tasks of the crisis would be in Canberra, while others would remain in their home cities of either Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane.

Among those who Morrison would lean heaviest on were his chief of staff, John Kunkel, and principal private secretary, Yaron Finkelstein, who also relocated to Canberra. Health Minister Greg Hunt would work hand-in-glove with Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy and Morrison's director of policy Alex Caroly. Western Australian MP Ben Morton, one of Morrison's closest confidantes in Canberra, would also spend weeks on the east coast.

All leadership meetings, and all meetings not involving staff employed within the office, were conducted on screens rather than in person. The PM would also receive regular medical check-ups.

Scott Morrison became a regular fixture on TV with his press conferences.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Those at-times manic March days would be dominated by late-night press conferences beamed into family living rooms as every few days more dramatic sanctions were imposed.

The semi-regular live events would become a cultural phenomenon, and gave Morrison an audience rarely enjoyed so regularly by an Australian political leader.

On Tuesday, March 24, with a fresh round of shutdowns anticipated, the finale of Channel 7's My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals was significantly delayed to screen Morrison's late-night coronavirus press conference.

Just as MKR judges Pete Evans, Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel were preparing to unveil their final scores, all networks crossed to Morrison, who began reading a laundry list of things Australians could no longer do. No guests at weddings, no more than 10 mourners at funerals. In those early appearances Morrison appeared tired, mispronounced words and was clearly feeling the pressure.

"Community and recreation centres, health clubs, fitness centres, yoga, barre - I hope I've pronounced that correctly, I might need some help with that. I'm not quite sure what that is, to be honest, but B-A-R-R-E for those who are looking for the specific definition," he said.

Australians were scared and confused. Even cricket legend Shane Warne was wound up.

"Listening to the PM like everyone here in Australia and what I understood was, 'It's essential, unless it's not. Then it's essentially not essential. I can't be clearer'. Plus people can buy a new shirt at a shopping centre? WTF? PM just had a shocker. Surely should be in lockdown now," Warne wrote on Twitter.

Morrison had based himself full-time at The Lodge, the Prime Minister's residence a stone's throw from Parliament House on Canberra's Adelaide Avenue.

As he and his inner circle burned the midnight oil on a suite of financial packages to prop up an economy spiralling out of control, the Sydney independent school where Morrison's daughters Abbey and Lily were enrolled shut its doors. While the PM was urging kids to stay in school, his own girls weren't, which gave ammunition to those wanting all schools shut down.

When asked on ABC 7.30 when his girls would return to school he was direct: "When I can send my kids to school and they get taught in a classroom, face to face, that's what I want my kids to do. At present, that's not available to me. And the sooner the better, from my point of view."

The girls followed their mum and their grandmother to Canberra along with their dog, a "schnoodle" (a cross between a miniature schnauzer and a poodle) called Buddy. Jenny Morrison, who can still wander the shopping centres of Canberra with relative anonymity, was dispatched by the children to upgrade the TV and buy puzzles for the 40-room 1920s mansion, which has not played home to a young family since the Keatings.

While Morrison and his team were pushed to the limit to fight twin battles, he would relax on a rare night off or Saturday at The Lodge by watching the Star Wars films with Lily, helping the girls with their Disney Princess puzzles, or binge watching American crime drama Ozark on Netflix. He watched one episode of Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. It wasn't to his liking.

At night he would read a biography of Joseph Lyons, Australia's 10th prime minister, who steered the nation through the Great Depression.

While Morrison would reach out to his political opponents, both state and federal, to help the nation weather the storm, he would also challenge traditional adversaries to put aside their differences.

As the government nutted out a "hibernation" strategy, which would allow businesses shut down by social distancing measures to survive lockdown, it became clear it would need to offer a wage subsidy.

On Thursday, March 26, the same day he briefed journalists about his views on the crisis, Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann joined Morrison for dinner in his office. Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy and deputy Jenny Wilkinson dialled in on secure videolink. They didn't eat.

Morrison, Frydenberg and Cormann agreed they would need to provide more support for employees and businesses by helping with wages. But Morrison had made it clear he would not be following the UK's example, as demanded by Labor and the unions, which provided up to 80 per cent of a worker's wages.

Both Kennedy, and separately former Labor minister Greg Combet, who had been appointed to the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, told Morrison to avoid mistakes from the Rudd-era stimulus measures and use existing payment systems.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, in his office at Parliament House in March, kept in touch with business leaders.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Frydenberg left the meeting and continued to call business leaders. Four conversations would lead to the design of JobKeeper - the Treasurer called JB Hi-Fi chief executive Richard Murray, Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott, hospitality entrepreneur Justin Hemmes, who runs the Merivale group, and retail veteran Solomon Lew. They all wanted, if possible, to keep their staff on the payroll rather than send them to Centrelink. They said it was possible they could use their payroll systems to offer government support to their employees.

But the decision to spend, at that time, a projected $130 billion on 6 million Australian workers was easy compared to striking agreement with the union movement.

It would be Combet, again, who would provide inspiration. When Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter said he needed to deal directly with the unions, Combet urged him to call Australian Council of Trade Union secretary Sally McManus.

Much would be made of their new "BFF" status (best friends forever), but those in government believe Porter's efforts, after a day of intense negotiations to nail down the $1500-a-fortnight wage subsidy for six months, was an achievement worthy of high praise.

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter worked with ACTU secretary Sally McManus.Credit:Louise Kennerley

While business, unions and government had worked more closely than ever before, some of Australia's richest and most influential private citizens such as Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest banded together to work on various plans: a contact tracing app, sourcing ventilators, securing PPE, messaging and testing.

One group, calling itself Novel-19, included Grounds, Cannon-Brookes, television presenter Andrew Denton, Seek co-founder and AFL commissioner Paul Bassat, Damien Bruce from McKinsey, ad man Russel Howcroft and, occasionally, former Telstra CEO David Thodey and BHP chairman Ken MacKenzie.

The group was critical in partnership with federal and state health departments in securing health equipment from China, and worked closely with officials such as Glenys Beauchamp, who returned to her former post as federal Health Department secretary while her nominated successor, Brendan Murphy, remained as Chief Medical Officer.

Elsewhere, consultants at McKinsey & Company, effectively on retainer at Commonwealth Bank, were made available by the bank's chief, Matt Comyn, to assist Treasury and other departments work on modelling and policy. For bank bosses such as Comyn the crisis represented an opportunity to play a constructive role on the national stage at a time when the egregious behaviour exposed by the Hayne Royal Commission was still a raw issue for many. Comyn, along with other businessmen like Cannon-Brookes, also advocated for the use of technology to monitor the spread of the virus, writing an op-ed arguing there was nothing to fear from a contact-tracing app.

In mid-March, with more than 350 new cases nationwide every day for a fortnight, chief health officers were warning their state governments that just five undiagnosed cases could become 60,000 within weeks.

More testing kits were sourced and more resources deployed to contact tracing, including help from the Australian Defence Force.

Authorities feared soon thousands would be dead and tens of thousands reliant on hospital systems that lacked safety equipment or lifesaving ventilators. More than 5500 would be sought.

Despite early and decisive border closures, workplaces shuttered and recently returned travellers told not to leave home for 14 days, those at the heart of the situation feared it was spiralling out of control.

A ministerial adviser observes social distancing as chief health officers warned undiagnosed cases could spiral.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian Hotels Association, an influential lobby group representing pubs and the accommodation sector, warned they faced financial ruin from the international traveller ban and tough lockdown measures. They offered up their members' services to state governments, in the hope they could keep kitchen staff, cleaners and a skeleton staff working.

They were willing to help in any way, from offering rooms for the homeless, for people to self-isolate to even becoming makeshift medical wards. Two-thirds of all Australian COVID-19 cases were from returned travellers and there were reports that many of those who had made a mad dash home were not strictly following orders to self isolate for 14 days. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews put a proposal to the national cabinet.

Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Andrews had made the trip from his home in Mulgrave, in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, and sat in a secure room in his 1 Treasury Place office. Morrison sat in what's known as "the briefing room", a secure room off the cabinet room where national security committee meetings are held. He was flanked in all the meetings by his cabinet secretary, Andrew Shearer, and Phil Gaetjens, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Premiers too had their most senior public servants alongside them. Chris Eccles, the head of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, flanked Andrews. His NSW counterpart Tim Reardon was alongside Berejiklian.

Andrews told the meeting he believed all returned travellers should be sent to empty hotels for 14 days and their quarantine strictly enforced. There could be no negotiation. It was the only option possible on a health front and it would have the added bonus of throwing some extra support the way of the industry.

The decision to force those returning from overseas to quarantine in hotels for 14 days proved critical to Australia's success in suppressing COVID-19.Credit:AAP

He said he was alarmed at the number of return travellers flouting instructions. "This is simply a no-brainer," he told fellow leaders, according to those on the video link call. "We can't afford not to."

The decisions would prove to be the turning point. Weeks later Murphy, appearing before a Senate committee hearing, was asked what, if anything, he would have done differently during that March madness.

"I would like to have formally hotel quarantined people a little earlier," he replied.

More than 117,000 travellers have returned since that decision, the overwhelming majority placed in hotels in capital cities for two weeks and monitored by state police forces and even the defence force to ensure they stayed put.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Brendan Murphy told a Senate select committee hearing on COVID-19 they should have formally quarantined travellers earlier.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

About 62 per cent - 4491 - of Australia's confirmed virus cases since January have been acquired overseas. Since mandatory quarantine was enforced 2375 cases have been detected among those returned travellers in enforced isolation.

Morrison singled out that moment as a "great example" of the success of the new national cabinet, which was formed on the run one hectic Friday afternoon a fortnight earlier.

"The states immediately agreed that wherever they come in, that state would meet the bill," Morrison said.

"Knowing that NSW, in particular, was probably going to bear the biggest burden on that. But there wasn't a quibble about it. I suppose the solidarity of that group was we just got to solve the problem."

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Coronavirus Australia: Scott Morrison and COVID-19 in manic March - Sydney Morning Herald