❓ Opposition asks if the Premier will allow the Chief Health Officer to hold a public town hall meeting regarding COVID-19. The Premier avoids a direct answer, praising the CHO's work and criticising the opposition.
AnsweredQoN 729Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER — TOWN HALL MEETING
729. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
Will the Premier allow Chief Health
Officer Andy Robertson to front a public town hall meeting to answer any
questions from the public on his critically important health advice; and, if
not, will the Premier confirm that he is in fact gagging the Chief Health
Officer?
CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER — TOWN HALL MEETING
729. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
Will the Premier allow Chief Health
Officer Andy Robertson to front a public town hall meeting to answer any
questions from the public on his critically important health advice; and, if
not, will the Premier confirm that he is in fact gagging the Chief Health
Officer?
AnswerView source ↗
The Chief Health Officer, Dr Andy
Robertson, has been doing a very good job at keeping Western Australians safe.
Once again, the Liberal Party is trying to undermine that work of the state
government and the Chief Health Officer. He has an important role to perform as
the Chief Health Officer. I must say that the outcome of his advice and the
work of the Minister for Health, the Commissioner of Police, the director
general of Health, the director general of Premier
and Cabinet and the Public Sector Commissioner has been absolutely outstanding.
I do not know why the Liberal Party is always trying to nitpick and
criticise our outcomes. We have now had 163 days without a single case of
community spread of the virus in Western Australia—163 days!—and
all the Liberal Party wants to do is to undermine. The Liberal Party joins a long
line—a conga line—of people who want to undermine the outcome that Western Australia has secured. It
appears to me that the Western Australian Liberal Party would prefer an
outcome that involved a breakout of the virus and having to go through the
process that New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are going through,
whereby the virus is managed in the community. My view is that it is better not
to have the virus. I know over east they are saying that the gold standard is
somehow New South Wales, where there are outbreaks everywhere and then they are
managed. How is that a gold standard versus a state that does not have the
virus? How is that a gold standard? I do not understand this. It defies logic.
I will tell members one thing about Andy Robertson: he has done a lot more
press conferences than the Leader of the Opposition!
Robertson, has been doing a very good job at keeping Western Australians safe.
Once again, the Liberal Party is trying to undermine that work of the state
government and the Chief Health Officer. He has an important role to perform as
the Chief Health Officer. I must say that the outcome of his advice and the
work of the Minister for Health, the Commissioner of Police, the director
general of Health, the director general of Premier
and Cabinet and the Public Sector Commissioner has been absolutely outstanding.
I do not know why the Liberal Party is always trying to nitpick and
criticise our outcomes. We have now had 163 days without a single case of
community spread of the virus in Western Australia—163 days!—and
all the Liberal Party wants to do is to undermine. The Liberal Party joins a long
line—a conga line—of people who want to undermine the outcome that Western Australia has secured. It
appears to me that the Western Australian Liberal Party would prefer an
outcome that involved a breakout of the virus and having to go through the
process that New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are going through,
whereby the virus is managed in the community. My view is that it is better not
to have the virus. I know over east they are saying that the gold standard is
somehow New South Wales, where there are outbreaks everywhere and then they are
managed. How is that a gold standard versus a state that does not have the
virus? How is that a gold standard? I do not understand this. It defies logic.
I will tell members one thing about Andy Robertson: he has done a lot more
press conferences than the Leader of the Opposition!
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