❓ The Premier addresses concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak in South Australia, outlining the WA government's response, including a hard border and urging calm among residents. He defends the border measures as effective and constitutional.
AnsweredQoN 920Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS — SOUTH AUSTRALIA
920. Mrs
J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Premier:
I refer to the recent community
outbreak of COVID-19 in South Australia. Can the Premier update the house on
the swift action taken by the Western Australian government in responding to
this outbreak, and outline how this will keep our state safe and strong?
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS — SOUTH AUSTRALIA
920. Mrs
J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Premier:
I refer to the recent community
outbreak of COVID-19 in South Australia. Can the Premier update the house on
the swift action taken by the Western Australian government in responding to
this outbreak, and outline how this will keep our state safe and strong?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kingsley for
the question.
Obviously, the outbreak of community
spread of the virus in South Australia remains very concerning. Today, South
Australia has reported at least four new cases, and there may be more. Although
that is still a small number, we know how
insidious this virus can be and how it can spread very easily. We will continue
to monitor the situation to determine the true extent of the outbreak,
but the truth of the matter is that we are taking this matter very, very
seriously. We have acted very swiftly.
Firstly, we have acted to go to a hard
border with South Australia, with a very limited list of exemptions for people
to come from or through South Australia to Western Australia. This decision was
taken based upon health advice from the Chief Health Officer, and I will table
that advice. I think we received this advice yesterday, Mr Speaker, which details
what we needed to do and why we needed to do it.
[See paper 3987 .]
Mr
M. McGOWAN : South Australia has now
been catapulted from being very low risk to the medium-risk category, and that
limits the number and range of people who can come into Western Australia via
South Australia. These measures, obviously, are harsh and they are difficult
for people to manage, particularly for people who wanted to come in for a range
of reasons. It will mean significant delays for people who are in South
Australia and want to come to Western Australia—if they can come at
all. We are doing this based upon health advice to protect the health of Western Australians. I urge any Western Australians
who are currently in South Australia to come home now. They will be required to
quarantine and be tested. The arrivals from South Australia have slowed down
very dramatically as a result of the
actions that we have taken. As I have said, we know that the measures that we
have put in place actually work.
I
want to say a few other things. Firstly, I congratulate the Premier of South
Australia, Steven Marshall, with whom I have a very good working relationship,
for the measures he has taken to close down certain activity in Adelaide to
protect the health of the people of Adelaide. Obviously, that has been a pretty
dramatic step, but I think that what he has done is appropriate in the circumstances and I congratulate him for
doing that. I also congratulate the state opposition in South Australia for joining and supporting the
state government in South Australia for what it has had to do.
Secondly, I want to make this point.
I have seen reports in Western Australia of panic buying, once again, of toilet
paper. I would urge people not to do stupid and dumb things like that. Please
do not engage in panic buying in Western Australia.
There is absolutely no need for people to do this. I urge everyone to be
sensible and reasonable. No cases have been reported in Western Australia
and we have gone to a hard border to protect the people of the state.
Thirdly, I want to make the point that borders work. They are
constitutional. The commonwealth High Court has endorsed the legality of these.
The federal court examined the issues and said that this was a very effective
tool to stop the spread of COVID. If only
the United States, another federation of states, had engaged in this sort of
practice , maybe it would not have the terrible situation that it
currently has. If Britain, which is an island, had engaged in even an
international border, it might now be in a far better position than it
currently is.
I urge all those people out there
moaning and complaining about the measures that the Western Australian government is taking to stop and understand that
this government will take whatever measures that it deems fit to protect
the health and welfare of the people of the state, and it will not be stopped
or criticised by people over east who do not know what they are talking about.
the question.
Obviously, the outbreak of community
spread of the virus in South Australia remains very concerning. Today, South
Australia has reported at least four new cases, and there may be more. Although
that is still a small number, we know how
insidious this virus can be and how it can spread very easily. We will continue
to monitor the situation to determine the true extent of the outbreak,
but the truth of the matter is that we are taking this matter very, very
seriously. We have acted very swiftly.
Firstly, we have acted to go to a hard
border with South Australia, with a very limited list of exemptions for people
to come from or through South Australia to Western Australia. This decision was
taken based upon health advice from the Chief Health Officer, and I will table
that advice. I think we received this advice yesterday, Mr Speaker, which details
what we needed to do and why we needed to do it.
[See paper 3987 .]
Mr
M. McGOWAN : South Australia has now
been catapulted from being very low risk to the medium-risk category, and that
limits the number and range of people who can come into Western Australia via
South Australia. These measures, obviously, are harsh and they are difficult
for people to manage, particularly for people who wanted to come in for a range
of reasons. It will mean significant delays for people who are in South
Australia and want to come to Western Australia—if they can come at
all. We are doing this based upon health advice to protect the health of Western Australians. I urge any Western Australians
who are currently in South Australia to come home now. They will be required to
quarantine and be tested. The arrivals from South Australia have slowed down
very dramatically as a result of the
actions that we have taken. As I have said, we know that the measures that we
have put in place actually work.
I
want to say a few other things. Firstly, I congratulate the Premier of South
Australia, Steven Marshall, with whom I have a very good working relationship,
for the measures he has taken to close down certain activity in Adelaide to
protect the health of the people of Adelaide. Obviously, that has been a pretty
dramatic step, but I think that what he has done is appropriate in the circumstances and I congratulate him for
doing that. I also congratulate the state opposition in South Australia for joining and supporting the
state government in South Australia for what it has had to do.
Secondly, I want to make this point.
I have seen reports in Western Australia of panic buying, once again, of toilet
paper. I would urge people not to do stupid and dumb things like that. Please
do not engage in panic buying in Western Australia.
There is absolutely no need for people to do this. I urge everyone to be
sensible and reasonable. No cases have been reported in Western Australia
and we have gone to a hard border to protect the people of the state.
Thirdly, I want to make the point that borders work. They are
constitutional. The commonwealth High Court has endorsed the legality of these.
The federal court examined the issues and said that this was a very effective
tool to stop the spread of COVID. If only
the United States, another federation of states, had engaged in this sort of
practice , maybe it would not have the terrible situation that it
currently has. If Britain, which is an island, had engaged in even an
international border, it might now be in a far better position than it
currently is.
I urge all those people out there
moaning and complaining about the measures that the Western Australian government is taking to stop and understand that
this government will take whatever measures that it deems fit to protect
the health and welfare of the people of the state, and it will not be stopped
or criticised by people over east who do not know what they are talking about.
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.