❓ Ms. Davies (Nationals) questions the Premier about a roadmap for reopening WA's borders given the government's mandatory vaccination policy. The Premier defends the policy, criticizes the opposition's stance, and highlights WA's vaccination progress.
AnsweredQoN 627Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — MANDATORY VACCINATION POLICY
627. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the announcement that the
Premier has just been outlining in relation to the government's
mandatory COVID-19 policy for Western Australia's workforce. Given the
government is now using a big-stick approach to get our vaccination rate up because the government has failed using
other methods, when can we expect to see a road map that outlines a time
line for safely reopening our borders?
627. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the announcement that the
Premier has just been outlining in relation to the government's
mandatory COVID-19 policy for Western Australia's workforce. Given the
government is now using a big-stick approach to get our vaccination rate up because the government has failed using
other methods, when can we expect to see a road map that outlines a time
line for safely reopening our borders?
AnswerView source ↗
They never stop criticising our
approach to dealing with COVID, and that has occurred over the course of the
last two years. It has been a highly
stressful and difficult period, yet the Liberals and Nationals in Western Australia
never stop whining and whingeing and criticising. At the height of the pandemic
last year, whilst we were trying to keep Western Australia safe, they were demanding that we allow COVID into WA,
and they joined Clive Palmer in his efforts in the High Court. That is what the Liberal Party did. Ever since then,
they have continued to attack and criticise.
Our
vaccination rate is, basically, the same as Queensland's and ahead of
the Northern Territory's and maybe a couple of percentage points behind
South Australia's. They are comparable jurisdictions to Western Australia
in that they are large states with relatively small populations and extended
over a large area. We are all COVID-free. Naturally, we are not going to
be vaccinated as quickly as New South Wales and Victoria, which got millions of
extra doses per capita months before the rest of us. The idea is that somehow
we should have the same vaccination rate when New South Wales got millions of extra doses of Pfizer early, on a number of
occasions; and it had a massive outbreak, which obviously drove vaccination
rates; and the rules were changed in New South Wales to allow quicker dosage
between the two doses, but all those things have added up to New South Wales
being vaccinated quicker than the rest of us. That is understandable. I do not
understand why the Liberals and Nationals cannot understand that simple fact.
Some of Western Australia's
issues involve remote Aboriginal communities, which are the commonwealth's responsibility. The vaccination rates there
are very low. The commonwealth took on that responsibility. We want to help them. I understand why it is difficult. I am not
attacking the commonwealth over it. I am making the point it is more difficult
to do that. We will continue to put in place innovative measures to deal with
the situation. I am advised that there are lines to get vaccinated at the
shopping centres in Mirrabooka and Armadale. We have a hundred or so clinics
around regional WA and we are going to put in place some extremely innovative
measures to get more and more people vaccinated. But, by the end of this week,
60 per cent of over-12 Western Australians will have had both doses—and
we are counting the 12 to 16-year-olds that the other states are not counting
because I think they count. Our kids count. They should not be excluded from the measures. It makes it easier for New
South Wales and Victoria to say that they got to higher level when they do not count kids. We are counting kids. It never
made sense to me that kids were not counted.
There will be lots of innovation,
but today's announcement is a tough decision, a hard decision, really
quite an unusual decision, but it is something that we have had to do. I just
remind everyone when you are at school, you get vaccinated. When you are a baby,
you get vaccinated. This is what happens in our society and it has happened for
decades to prevent terrible illnesses afflicting us throughout the course of
our lives. When people work in aged care and hospitals, they are required to
have a flu vaccine. This is not an unusual thing compared with that. I urge
everyone across the state who is unhappy about vaccinations to think about it
in that context. We have been doing it with children for decades, probably the
best part of 100 years, and it has prevented millions of deaths.
approach to dealing with COVID, and that has occurred over the course of the
last two years. It has been a highly
stressful and difficult period, yet the Liberals and Nationals in Western Australia
never stop whining and whingeing and criticising. At the height of the pandemic
last year, whilst we were trying to keep Western Australia safe, they were demanding that we allow COVID into WA,
and they joined Clive Palmer in his efforts in the High Court. That is what the Liberal Party did. Ever since then,
they have continued to attack and criticise.
Our
vaccination rate is, basically, the same as Queensland's and ahead of
the Northern Territory's and maybe a couple of percentage points behind
South Australia's. They are comparable jurisdictions to Western Australia
in that they are large states with relatively small populations and extended
over a large area. We are all COVID-free. Naturally, we are not going to
be vaccinated as quickly as New South Wales and Victoria, which got millions of
extra doses per capita months before the rest of us. The idea is that somehow
we should have the same vaccination rate when New South Wales got millions of extra doses of Pfizer early, on a number of
occasions; and it had a massive outbreak, which obviously drove vaccination
rates; and the rules were changed in New South Wales to allow quicker dosage
between the two doses, but all those things have added up to New South Wales
being vaccinated quicker than the rest of us. That is understandable. I do not
understand why the Liberals and Nationals cannot understand that simple fact.
Some of Western Australia's
issues involve remote Aboriginal communities, which are the commonwealth's responsibility. The vaccination rates there
are very low. The commonwealth took on that responsibility. We want to help them. I understand why it is difficult. I am not
attacking the commonwealth over it. I am making the point it is more difficult
to do that. We will continue to put in place innovative measures to deal with
the situation. I am advised that there are lines to get vaccinated at the
shopping centres in Mirrabooka and Armadale. We have a hundred or so clinics
around regional WA and we are going to put in place some extremely innovative
measures to get more and more people vaccinated. But, by the end of this week,
60 per cent of over-12 Western Australians will have had both doses—and
we are counting the 12 to 16-year-olds that the other states are not counting
because I think they count. Our kids count. They should not be excluded from the measures. It makes it easier for New
South Wales and Victoria to say that they got to higher level when they do not count kids. We are counting kids. It never
made sense to me that kids were not counted.
There will be lots of innovation,
but today's announcement is a tough decision, a hard decision, really
quite an unusual decision, but it is something that we have had to do. I just
remind everyone when you are at school, you get vaccinated. When you are a baby,
you get vaccinated. This is what happens in our society and it has happened for
decades to prevent terrible illnesses afflicting us throughout the course of
our lives. When people work in aged care and hospitals, they are required to
have a flu vaccine. This is not an unusual thing compared with that. I urge
everyone across the state who is unhappy about vaccinations to think about it
in that context. We have been doing it with children for decades, probably the
best part of 100 years, and it has prevented millions of deaths.
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