❓ Opposition questions the Premier's timeline for opening interstate borders, suggesting it contradicts health advice. The Premier defends the decision-making process, citing the evolving situation in Victoria and potential consequences, and accuses the opposition of unhelpful criticism.
AnsweredQoN 463Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS
463. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I
refer to the official advice from the Chief Health Officer on 20 May about not
lifting the interstate border ''until community spread is
eliminated in affected jurisdictions, which will require at least a month to
confirm''. Why did the Premier say yesterday that he considered opening
the interstate borders on 8 August? Is it because the decision will no longer
be based on health advice from the Chief Health Officer?
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS
463. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I
refer to the official advice from the Chief Health Officer on 20 May about not
lifting the interstate border ''until community spread is
eliminated in affected jurisdictions, which will require at least a month to
confirm''. Why did the Premier say yesterday that he considered opening
the interstate borders on 8 August? Is it because the decision will no longer
be based on health advice from the Chief Health Officer?
AnswerView source ↗
No. It is very clear that the Chief
Health Officer provided us with advice that that date was appropriate, but that
was prior to what has occurred in Victoria. What has occurred in Victoria is
very, very concerning. We have gone down a long
road over the last four months—as has the entire country and, indeed,
the entire world. We can see w hat happens
when things get out of control. When we see the spread of the virus in the
United States in states like Florida and the behaviour of senior public
officials over there, we can see how things can get out of control. Many, many
thousands of people are dying in the United States, and I expect people will
continue to die.
If we went to Brazil, parts of
Europe or the Middle East, we would see the same thing occurring, including,
God forbid, what is going on in places such as Africa and other places where
what is occurring is not as well reported or recorded. Clearly, the Australian
experience has been very different. When we went to the Council of Australian
Governments meeting in March and Premiers and the Prime Minister started
talking about these issues together and went through the national cabinet
process, the figures that were put forward for the death rate in Australia were
absolutely shocking. We were expecting, by April and May, potentially, that our
hospitals would be full—that people would not be able to get beds and
would literally be dying in their homes or in corridors. That was the
projection of what could occur. That is why we cleared elective surgery and
searched the world for protective personal equipment. We even looked towards
mass burial arrangements and using ventilators that were ordinarily used in
veterinary practices to try to get enough equipment and material to protect our
citizens. We had a plan to have mass burials at some of our cemeteries, in
which people would basically be buried en masse with very few, if any, family
members attending. It would have been done day after day to deal with what was
potentially going to occur. That has not happened. That has not happened
because Western Australians have done the right thing and we have listened to
the advice of the Chief Health Officer. I urge the Liberal Party to help us and
to stop this terrible nitpicking and criticism. It does not do members opposite
any good and it does not do the state any good. I think that all it does—the way the Liberal Party behaves—is
upset Western Australians. The Minister for Transport outlined some of the commentary made by the Leader
of the Opposition, which she now appears to be walking away from, but,
obviously, the record is there. It does not help her. I think Western —
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The record is
there. I saw the member deny it on the news the other night. What she said was
not true. The record of what she said is there. We have done our best to
protect the health and welfare of Western Australians. We have done our best
within that to get our economy back open. When the time comes that we get
health advice to do so, that is when we will bring down the border with the
east and not before.
Health Officer provided us with advice that that date was appropriate, but that
was prior to what has occurred in Victoria. What has occurred in Victoria is
very, very concerning. We have gone down a long
road over the last four months—as has the entire country and, indeed,
the entire world. We can see w hat happens
when things get out of control. When we see the spread of the virus in the
United States in states like Florida and the behaviour of senior public
officials over there, we can see how things can get out of control. Many, many
thousands of people are dying in the United States, and I expect people will
continue to die.
If we went to Brazil, parts of
Europe or the Middle East, we would see the same thing occurring, including,
God forbid, what is going on in places such as Africa and other places where
what is occurring is not as well reported or recorded. Clearly, the Australian
experience has been very different. When we went to the Council of Australian
Governments meeting in March and Premiers and the Prime Minister started
talking about these issues together and went through the national cabinet
process, the figures that were put forward for the death rate in Australia were
absolutely shocking. We were expecting, by April and May, potentially, that our
hospitals would be full—that people would not be able to get beds and
would literally be dying in their homes or in corridors. That was the
projection of what could occur. That is why we cleared elective surgery and
searched the world for protective personal equipment. We even looked towards
mass burial arrangements and using ventilators that were ordinarily used in
veterinary practices to try to get enough equipment and material to protect our
citizens. We had a plan to have mass burials at some of our cemeteries, in
which people would basically be buried en masse with very few, if any, family
members attending. It would have been done day after day to deal with what was
potentially going to occur. That has not happened. That has not happened
because Western Australians have done the right thing and we have listened to
the advice of the Chief Health Officer. I urge the Liberal Party to help us and
to stop this terrible nitpicking and criticism. It does not do members opposite
any good and it does not do the state any good. I think that all it does—the way the Liberal Party behaves—is
upset Western Australians. The Minister for Transport outlined some of the commentary made by the Leader
of the Opposition, which she now appears to be walking away from, but,
obviously, the record is there. It does not help her. I think Western —
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The record is
there. I saw the member deny it on the news the other night. What she said was
not true. The record of what she said is there. We have done our best to
protect the health and welfare of Western Australians. We have done our best
within that to get our economy back open. When the time comes that we get
health advice to do so, that is when we will bring down the border with the
east and not before.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.