❓ Ms. Davies questions the Premier about the transfer of detainees from Villawood to Yongah Hill, specifically regarding State Operations Command Centre approval and compliance with WA's COVID-19 border restrictions. The Premier admits lack of prior knowledge and places responsibility on the Commonwealth government.
AnsweredQoN 461Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — INTERSTATE
BORDER RESTRICTIONS — DETAINEES
461. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
think the Minister for Police was going for the longest answer. There was a bit
of a competition this week in terms of long answers.
The SPEAKER : He was not even
close!
Ms M.J. DAVIES : Okay!
I refer to the fact that detainees
from the New South Wales Villawood Immigration Detention Centre have been
relocated to Western Australia's Yongah Hill Immigration Detention
Centre, which is located in my electorate of Central Wheatbelt.
(1) Can the Premier confirm whether the State
Operations Command Centre approved entry of these detainees into Western
Australia?
(2) Can the
Premier advise whether the detainees met all the requirements of the state
government restrictions imposed at 12.01 am on Tuesday for every person
entering from New South Wales to have had at least one COVID vaccination and to
return a negative PCR test 24 hours prior to travel?
BORDER RESTRICTIONS — DETAINEES
461. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
think the Minister for Police was going for the longest answer. There was a bit
of a competition this week in terms of long answers.
The SPEAKER : He was not even
close!
Ms M.J. DAVIES : Okay!
I refer to the fact that detainees
from the New South Wales Villawood Immigration Detention Centre have been
relocated to Western Australia's Yongah Hill Immigration Detention
Centre, which is located in my electorate of Central Wheatbelt.
(1) Can the Premier confirm whether the State
Operations Command Centre approved entry of these detainees into Western
Australia?
(2) Can the
Premier advise whether the detainees met all the requirements of the state
government restrictions imposed at 12.01 am on Tuesday for every person
entering from New South Wales to have had at least one COVID vaccination and to
return a negative PCR test 24 hours prior to travel?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The
member is right. I learnt of these detainees from Villawood detention centre in
Sydney coming to Western Australia yesterday morning. Obviously, I sought to
interrogate that information once I learnt about it. I understand that they had
already arrived. The responsibility for the movement of these detainees is the
commonwealth Liberal–National government. It has organised this. There
is no requirement for the detainees to complete a G2G PASS declaration. The
advice I have is that there were 19 or 20 of them. They were escorted by 40 to
42 Australian Border Force, customs or other officers, who took care of
security on the aircraft. The advice I received this morning was that the
security detail or the customs officers remained on the aircraft and flew
directly back to Sydney. That was the advice I was given at the emergency
management team this morning. We have sought further information from the
commonwealth about this because I did not know. I await further information
from the commonwealth about these issues.
member is right. I learnt of these detainees from Villawood detention centre in
Sydney coming to Western Australia yesterday morning. Obviously, I sought to
interrogate that information once I learnt about it. I understand that they had
already arrived. The responsibility for the movement of these detainees is the
commonwealth Liberal–National government. It has organised this. There
is no requirement for the detainees to complete a G2G PASS declaration. The
advice I have is that there were 19 or 20 of them. They were escorted by 40 to
42 Australian Border Force, customs or other officers, who took care of
security on the aircraft. The advice I received this morning was that the
security detail or the customs officers remained on the aircraft and flew
directly back to Sydney. That was the advice I was given at the emergency
management team this morning. We have sought further information from the
commonwealth about this because I did not know. I await further information
from the commonwealth about these issues.
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