❓ Question regarding the WA Chief Health Officer's role in easing COVID-19 restrictions and the government's reliance on their advice. The Minister's answer provides an update on COVID-19 cases and defends the government's border policies and the CHO's advice against criticism.
AnsweredQoN 462Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS — EASING
462. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Minister for Health:
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : It is good to
see you have got the proper trousers!
Mr Y. MUBARAKAI : It is a lucky
day for me, Mr Speaker!
Mr D.J. Kelly : Tracksuit
pants next week!
Mr Y. MUBARAKAI : Hopefully!
I
refer to the outstanding efforts of all Western Australians in following the
advice of the health authorities that has allowed the McGowan Labor government to move to phase 4 of its road map
for easing� the COVID-19 restrictions. Can the minister outline to the
house what role the WA Chief Health Officer has played in the government's
decision to further ease restrictions, and can the minister outline to the
house why the government will continue to take the advice of the WA Chief
Health Officer as it moves further through the COVID-19 road map?
GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS — EASING
462. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Minister for Health:
Thank you, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : It is good to
see you have got the proper trousers!
Mr Y. MUBARAKAI : It is a lucky
day for me, Mr Speaker!
Mr D.J. Kelly : Tracksuit
pants next week!
Mr Y. MUBARAKAI : Hopefully!
I
refer to the outstanding efforts of all Western Australians in following the
advice of the health authorities that has allowed the McGowan Labor government to move to phase 4 of its road map
for easing� the COVID-19 restrictions. Can the minister outline to the
house what role the WA Chief Health Officer has played in the government's
decision to further ease restrictions, and can the minister outline to the
house why the government will continue to take the advice of the WA Chief
Health Officer as it moves further through the COVID-19 road map?
AnswerView source ↗
I would like to thank the member for
the question. It is an incredibly important one at this pivotal moment in our
fight against COVID-19. But, if I may, before I answer the member for Jandakot's
question, I might just provide members with an update about cases. We have had
two new cases overnight—both were overseas travellers and in hotel quarantine. That takes the total number
of cases now to 607. There are four active cases in the state, following one additional recovery overnight. A total of 594 people have now recovered
from the virus in Western Australia. Yesterday we swabbed 1 077 people at our
COVID-19 clinics. To date, we have had 164 147 COVID-19 tests performed in WA,
and of those tested, 28 858 were from regional Western Australia. This all goes
to the work of the Chief Health Officer and the outstanding work he has done on
behalf of the community providing advice to everyone, but in particular to the
government to make sure that we can move forward in a deliberate, graduated,
measured manner to ease restrictions in Western Australia. It is based upon the
evidence and, most importantly, it is based upon the science—the
science that the Chief Health Officer and the other members of the public
health department bring to this process. It is the reason that Western Australia
now leads the country in opening up our economy and making sure that we manage
the public health risk while getting people back into the workplace— opening up our economy and getting things moving.
As members would be aware because we tabled this information in the
other place, the biggest risk to Western Australian public health comes from
outside—that is, from outside our international borders and our state
borders. That is the reason that the Chief Health Officer and his team have
continued to advise us that we have to maintain our hard borders, and our hard
borders are the reason that we are now in the position to lead this country
forward in opening our economy.
The Grattan Institute recently
released a report, and the health program director at the Grattan Institute,
Stephen Duckett, says that Queensland and Western Australia have done the right
thing in keeping their borders closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report
also supports our two-week mandatory quarantine for people entering the state.
Even the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, now says that he
understands why Queensland and Western Australia had concerns about our hard
borders and why we are keeping them in place. Even the Deputy Premier of New
South Wales supposes that maybe New South Wales should be considering a border against Victoria while it continues to
struggle with what Premier Daniel Andrews now describes as sustained community transmission of the disease in that state. We do not take any great
solace in pointing out the problems in Victoria. We wish our friends in
Victoria all the very best with the great work they are doing working in those
hotspots to get on top of the disease.
What we will not stomach is the
criticism of the Chief Health Officer by members of the medical fraternity
about our hard borders, because that is what has kept Western Australians safe
and has allowed us to keep our economy open. The criticism today by a member of
the medical workforce of the Chief Health Officer and our hard border policies
was the most disgraceful and, I think, lowest point of this debate. To raise
issues of Nazi Germany and suggest that the Premier and I are on some sort of
maniacal or Machiavellian flight of fancy to keep our borders closed simply
because it suits us is outrageous and is disrespectful to the Chief Health
Officer. That member of the medical fraternity is not alone in criticising the
Chief Health Officer. Just recently, the Liberal Party in an interview on 6PR
on 15 June said that it would get a second opinion about the advice of the
Chief Health Officer—that it would simply throw away the science and
the evidence and get a second opinion. Why is that? It is because the Liberal Party does not like the advice. It is
because once upon a time, back on 19 May, the Liberal Party decided to hedge its bets and said that if it was in
government, it would throw open the borders. Since then, the Liberal Party has tried to nuance its position with a double-pike backflip, and now it says
that it if it was in government, it would simply try to find another opinion.
The Chief Health Officer rightly says that the biggest threat to our public
health policy is from outside our borders —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : You will get
your question, member for Warren–Blackwood; do not worry!
Mr R.H. COOK : — whether
it is bringing down the international or the interstate borders. Perhaps the
Chief Health Officer should have said that the other big risk to Western
Australia's public health is the Liberal Party!
the question. It is an incredibly important one at this pivotal moment in our
fight against COVID-19. But, if I may, before I answer the member for Jandakot's
question, I might just provide members with an update about cases. We have had
two new cases overnight—both were overseas travellers and in hotel quarantine. That takes the total number
of cases now to 607. There are four active cases in the state, following one additional recovery overnight. A total of 594 people have now recovered
from the virus in Western Australia. Yesterday we swabbed 1 077 people at our
COVID-19 clinics. To date, we have had 164 147 COVID-19 tests performed in WA,
and of those tested, 28 858 were from regional Western Australia. This all goes
to the work of the Chief Health Officer and the outstanding work he has done on
behalf of the community providing advice to everyone, but in particular to the
government to make sure that we can move forward in a deliberate, graduated,
measured manner to ease restrictions in Western Australia. It is based upon the
evidence and, most importantly, it is based upon the science—the
science that the Chief Health Officer and the other members of the public
health department bring to this process. It is the reason that Western Australia
now leads the country in opening up our economy and making sure that we manage
the public health risk while getting people back into the workplace— opening up our economy and getting things moving.
As members would be aware because we tabled this information in the
other place, the biggest risk to Western Australian public health comes from
outside—that is, from outside our international borders and our state
borders. That is the reason that the Chief Health Officer and his team have
continued to advise us that we have to maintain our hard borders, and our hard
borders are the reason that we are now in the position to lead this country
forward in opening our economy.
The Grattan Institute recently
released a report, and the health program director at the Grattan Institute,
Stephen Duckett, says that Queensland and Western Australia have done the right
thing in keeping their borders closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report
also supports our two-week mandatory quarantine for people entering the state.
Even the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Brendan Murphy, now says that he
understands why Queensland and Western Australia had concerns about our hard
borders and why we are keeping them in place. Even the Deputy Premier of New
South Wales supposes that maybe New South Wales should be considering a border against Victoria while it continues to
struggle with what Premier Daniel Andrews now describes as sustained community transmission of the disease in that state. We do not take any great
solace in pointing out the problems in Victoria. We wish our friends in
Victoria all the very best with the great work they are doing working in those
hotspots to get on top of the disease.
What we will not stomach is the
criticism of the Chief Health Officer by members of the medical fraternity
about our hard borders, because that is what has kept Western Australians safe
and has allowed us to keep our economy open. The criticism today by a member of
the medical workforce of the Chief Health Officer and our hard border policies
was the most disgraceful and, I think, lowest point of this debate. To raise
issues of Nazi Germany and suggest that the Premier and I are on some sort of
maniacal or Machiavellian flight of fancy to keep our borders closed simply
because it suits us is outrageous and is disrespectful to the Chief Health
Officer. That member of the medical fraternity is not alone in criticising the
Chief Health Officer. Just recently, the Liberal Party in an interview on 6PR
on 15 June said that it would get a second opinion about the advice of the
Chief Health Officer—that it would simply throw away the science and
the evidence and get a second opinion. Why is that? It is because the Liberal Party does not like the advice. It is
because once upon a time, back on 19 May, the Liberal Party decided to hedge its bets and said that if it was in
government, it would throw open the borders. Since then, the Liberal Party has tried to nuance its position with a double-pike backflip, and now it says
that it if it was in government, it would simply try to find another opinion.
The Chief Health Officer rightly says that the biggest threat to our public
health policy is from outside our borders —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : You will get
your question, member for Warren–Blackwood; do not worry!
Mr R.H. COOK : — whether
it is bringing down the international or the interstate borders. Perhaps the
Chief Health Officer should have said that the other big risk to Western
Australia's public health is the Liberal Party!
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