❓ Mr Rundle questions the Premier on the thresholds for easing Level 2 COVID restrictions and requests the release of up-to-date modelling. The Premier defends the government's approach, citing high vaccination rates and compliance, and emphasizes real-world data over modelling.
AnsweredQoN 155Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — LEVEL 2 RESTRICTIONS
155. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
comments regarding level 2 restrictions in which he stated that he is very keen
to try to end them by the end of March—''I am extremely keen''.
(1) Will the
Premier provide businesses, families and communities with certainty and clarity
on what the thresholds are for the changes to these restrictions?
(2) Given the Minister for Health's refusal to
publish the full up-to-date modelling underpinning the government's decision-making, will the Premier publish this information, including any
revisions to the original?
155. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
comments regarding level 2 restrictions in which he stated that he is very keen
to try to end them by the end of March—''I am extremely keen''.
(1) Will the
Premier provide businesses, families and communities with certainty and clarity
on what the thresholds are for the changes to these restrictions?
(2) Given the Minister for Health's refusal to
publish the full up-to-date modelling underpinning the government's decision-making, will the Premier publish this information, including any
revisions to the original?
AnswerView source ↗
(1) When we
announced the level 2 restrictions at the start of this month, we said that we
would review them in the lead-up to 1 April, and that is exactly what we are
doing. We are doing exactly what we said we would do, as we have throughout the
course of COVID. We set a course that is based upon health advice and doing the right thing by the people of the
state, saving lives, saving jobs, saving our health system and supporting the community, and we continue to do that. In the lead-up to the end
of this month we will obviously announce what the pathway forward is. That is
something we are currently working through in conjunction with our health and
other officials. We expect to make an announcement in due course. We are at 22
March now; next month is still some days away. We will make an announcement in
the lead-up to that following a full analysis of the existing and current
situation that we confront.
I note, however, that our position as
a state when it comes to dealing with COVID is once again world leading. Today, we have 180 patients in hospital
with six people in intensive care. If we compare that with other parts
of Australia or the world at this stage of the pandemic, we see that Western Australia
once again is leading. We are leading because of a few reasons. Firstly, we
managed to get to extremely high vaccination levels before the virus came here
in large numbers—extremely high. We copped a lot of criticism for that, but we did it. We are now at a vaccination
rate of nearly 75 per cent third dose, over 98 per cent second dose and
over 99 per cent first dose. These are world-leading figures. It is world leading that we have got to this position when it
comes to vaccination. That is despite all the problems we had with the fact that we did not have an outbreak
driving vaccination levels, so we had to do some difficult things in
order to get the vaccination levels up. That is one part of it. Secondly, the
high compliance with mask wearing and the fact that members of the Western Australian
public are doing the right thing by getting vaccinated, following the rules and
understanding that this is what is required in the situation that we face.
Thirdly, we have an ample supply of rapid antigen tests. We are providing them
to members of the public so that they can
test themselves and know whether they should go to work, go out socially or g o to school or whatever. Therefore, they will
not contribute to the spread of the virus. They are three important factors
that other states were not able to achieve. Look at South Australia: it opened
when it should not have. The consequences are there for all to see in a health
sense and in a political sense. We did not do it because we held firm against
the critics and the naysayers.
( 2) Regarding
the second part of the member's question, we released the modelling.
The modelling is out there. I will tell members what is more important than
modelling: it is real-world experience. We are currently going through a real-world
experience. Modelling is a funny thing. I was at a press conference earlier
today. A few weeks ago, people were saying, ''Where's the
modelling? You've got to follow the modelling.'' Now they are
saying, ''Why are you following the modelling?'' It is a really
odd situation. We have to analyse the real-world experience. The real-world
experience is there for all of us to see, as we speak. That is low
hospitalisation levels and low ICU
admission levels because we did those three things that I outlined to members
earlier that have made this massive difference to the spread of the virus, to
the health of Western Australians and to our hospitalisation rates. For that,
each and every Western Australian should be very, very proud.
announced the level 2 restrictions at the start of this month, we said that we
would review them in the lead-up to 1 April, and that is exactly what we are
doing. We are doing exactly what we said we would do, as we have throughout the
course of COVID. We set a course that is based upon health advice and doing the right thing by the people of the
state, saving lives, saving jobs, saving our health system and supporting the community, and we continue to do that. In the lead-up to the end
of this month we will obviously announce what the pathway forward is. That is
something we are currently working through in conjunction with our health and
other officials. We expect to make an announcement in due course. We are at 22
March now; next month is still some days away. We will make an announcement in
the lead-up to that following a full analysis of the existing and current
situation that we confront.
I note, however, that our position as
a state when it comes to dealing with COVID is once again world leading. Today, we have 180 patients in hospital
with six people in intensive care. If we compare that with other parts
of Australia or the world at this stage of the pandemic, we see that Western Australia
once again is leading. We are leading because of a few reasons. Firstly, we
managed to get to extremely high vaccination levels before the virus came here
in large numbers—extremely high. We copped a lot of criticism for that, but we did it. We are now at a vaccination
rate of nearly 75 per cent third dose, over 98 per cent second dose and
over 99 per cent first dose. These are world-leading figures. It is world leading that we have got to this position when it
comes to vaccination. That is despite all the problems we had with the fact that we did not have an outbreak
driving vaccination levels, so we had to do some difficult things in
order to get the vaccination levels up. That is one part of it. Secondly, the
high compliance with mask wearing and the fact that members of the Western Australian
public are doing the right thing by getting vaccinated, following the rules and
understanding that this is what is required in the situation that we face.
Thirdly, we have an ample supply of rapid antigen tests. We are providing them
to members of the public so that they can
test themselves and know whether they should go to work, go out socially or g o to school or whatever. Therefore, they will
not contribute to the spread of the virus. They are three important factors
that other states were not able to achieve. Look at South Australia: it opened
when it should not have. The consequences are there for all to see in a health
sense and in a political sense. We did not do it because we held firm against
the critics and the naysayers.
( 2) Regarding
the second part of the member's question, we released the modelling.
The modelling is out there. I will tell members what is more important than
modelling: it is real-world experience. We are currently going through a real-world
experience. Modelling is a funny thing. I was at a press conference earlier
today. A few weeks ago, people were saying, ''Where's the
modelling? You've got to follow the modelling.'' Now they are
saying, ''Why are you following the modelling?'' It is a really
odd situation. We have to analyse the real-world experience. The real-world
experience is there for all of us to see, as we speak. That is low
hospitalisation levels and low ICU
admission levels because we did those three things that I outlined to members
earlier that have made this massive difference to the spread of the virus, to
the health of Western Australians and to our hospitalisation rates. For that,
each and every Western Australian should be very, very proud.
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.