❓ Opposition MP Kirkup asks the Premier how the government is protecting teachers and parents at high risk of coronavirus while schools remain open. The Premier defends keeping schools open, citing expert advice and potential negative consequences of closure.
AnsweredQoN 189Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
SCHOOLS
189. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I have had many concerns raised with
me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the government is protecting teachers
and parents —
The SPEAKER : Speak up a bit,
member.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : I have had
many concerns raised with me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the
government is protecting teachers and parents at high risk of coronavirus due
to their age or medical conditions considering that they are at increased risk
while schools remain open.
Mr M. McGowan : I could not
hear your question; I did not understand it.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Sure; shall
I start again?
The SPEAKER : Yes, start
again, please.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Sure; thank
you. I appreciate that.
I have had many concerns raised with
me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the government is protecting
teachers and parents at high risk of coronavirus due to their age or medical
conditions considering they are at increased risk while schools remain open.
SCHOOLS
189. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I have had many concerns raised with
me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the government is protecting teachers
and parents —
The SPEAKER : Speak up a bit,
member.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : I have had
many concerns raised with me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the
government is protecting teachers and parents at high risk of coronavirus due
to their age or medical conditions considering that they are at increased risk
while schools remain open.
Mr M. McGowan : I could not
hear your question; I did not understand it.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Sure; shall
I start again?
The SPEAKER : Yes, start
again, please.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP : Sure; thank
you. I appreciate that.
I have had many concerns raised with
me by parents of schoolchildren asking how the government is protecting
teachers and parents at high risk of coronavirus due to their age or medical
conditions considering they are at increased risk while schools remain open.
AnswerView source ↗
I would urge everyone in our
community not to scaremonger. I would urge everyone in our community not to
scaremonger. The advice we have is that keeping schools open is the right thing
to do. Kids need to go to school. I want to thank especially those teaching
staff out there who are providing education and support for children at school.
Obviously, if there are teaching staff who are unwell, I would urge them to
take sick leave. Obviously, if there are parents who are unwell, I would urge
them to stay away from the school environment. Obviously, if there is anyone
who is particularly susceptible who may have an autoimmune illness, I would
request that they seek medical advice in this environment. I just want to
repeat to all members: the advice that we received and the advice the Prime
Minister and I agree on 100 per cent is that if we take kids out of school, we
are going to endanger their grandparents. If we take kids out of school, we are
going to have them wandering around the streets or the malls where we cannot
trace who they may have been in contact with. If we take kids out of schools,
we will potentially lose a large part of the workforce, in particular our
health workforce. That is a very, very, very bad idea. I urge the opposition
member to stop promoting it.
community not to scaremonger. I would urge everyone in our community not to
scaremonger. The advice we have is that keeping schools open is the right thing
to do. Kids need to go to school. I want to thank especially those teaching
staff out there who are providing education and support for children at school.
Obviously, if there are teaching staff who are unwell, I would urge them to
take sick leave. Obviously, if there are parents who are unwell, I would urge
them to stay away from the school environment. Obviously, if there is anyone
who is particularly susceptible who may have an autoimmune illness, I would
request that they seek medical advice in this environment. I just want to
repeat to all members: the advice that we received and the advice the Prime
Minister and I agree on 100 per cent is that if we take kids out of school, we
are going to endanger their grandparents. If we take kids out of school, we are
going to have them wandering around the streets or the malls where we cannot
trace who they may have been in contact with. If we take kids out of schools,
we will potentially lose a large part of the workforce, in particular our
health workforce. That is a very, very, very bad idea. I urge the opposition
member to stop promoting it.
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.