❓ Opposition MP Kirkup questions the Premier about the tabling of COVID-19 health advice, accusing him of political stunts and withholding relevant information. The Premier defends his actions, stating that the advice was already tabled and current, and references a Federal Court judgement supporting the government's position.
AnsweredQoN 639Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
HEALTH ADVICE
639. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's highly political stunt yesterday tabling
out-of-date and peripheral health advice from months ago, largely consisting of old commonwealth
government health advice. Why is he refusing to provide all the relevant and current written health advice, and will he commit to tabling all that
advice that forms the basis of major COVID-related decision-making impacting Western
Australians, including tabling all the various COVID-19 outbreak plans?
HEALTH ADVICE
639. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's highly political stunt yesterday tabling
out-of-date and peripheral health advice from months ago, largely consisting of old commonwealth
government health advice. Why is he refusing to provide all the relevant and current written health advice, and will he commit to tabling all that
advice that forms the basis of major COVID-related decision-making impacting Western
Australians, including tabling all the various COVID-19 outbreak plans?
AnswerView source ↗
Yesterday, I tabled 242 pages of
health advice and correspondence. A Federal Court judgement was included in
that in respect of the hard border and the health impacts of the hard border. I
tabled 242 pages of information for members. I did that in response.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Does the
member know why I did that? It was because last week, the Liberal Party was out there saying, ''Where's the
health advice?'' We had already tabled it all over the course of the
previous three months . It had all been tabled, it had been handed down
in a Federal Court judgement, it had all been released, and then I saw on
Friday the Liberal Party out there saying, ''We haven't seen any
advice.'' I just thought the Liberal Party had not seen it—the
Liberal Party does not appear to take any notice of what happens around the
place—so I tabled the information for its benefit.
In respect of the member's
claim that it is out-of-date, what a silly thing to say! We have been dealing
with this situation since early March this year. The situation in the east
since early March has actually gotten significantly worse. At the time we tabled various parts of the health advice, the
situation in the east was not as bad as it is today ; in other words, the health advice that we tabled
was completely current. We also tabled the Federal Court judgement in
which Justice Rangiah comprehensively demolished the Liberal Party's
witnesses and Clive Palmer's witnesses and agreed with Western Australia,
because he analysed all the evidence. So, when I see people out there around
Australia saying, ''Where's the evidence for this? Why has Western
Australia put in place a border?''—I have seen some prominent people around Australia saying this—I
ask them to have a look at a Federal Court case that examined all the
evidence. That finding is going to be transmitted to the High Court so that it
can use that as the findings of fact when it deals with Mr Palmer's
High Court challenge to our hard borders. The member for Dawesville asks, ''Where's
the evidence? Where's the information? Why is it out of date?''
It has all been compiled over the past six
months. We tabled it all, and some of it—Justice Rangiah—in the
last month. I tabled it last week, but the member for Dawesville appears
not to have noticed that it has been tabled already.
health advice and correspondence. A Federal Court judgement was included in
that in respect of the hard border and the health impacts of the hard border. I
tabled 242 pages of information for members. I did that in response.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Hillarys, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Does the
member know why I did that? It was because last week, the Liberal Party was out there saying, ''Where's the
health advice?'' We had already tabled it all over the course of the
previous three months . It had all been tabled, it had been handed down
in a Federal Court judgement, it had all been released, and then I saw on
Friday the Liberal Party out there saying, ''We haven't seen any
advice.'' I just thought the Liberal Party had not seen it—the
Liberal Party does not appear to take any notice of what happens around the
place—so I tabled the information for its benefit.
In respect of the member's
claim that it is out-of-date, what a silly thing to say! We have been dealing
with this situation since early March this year. The situation in the east
since early March has actually gotten significantly worse. At the time we tabled various parts of the health advice, the
situation in the east was not as bad as it is today ; in other words, the health advice that we tabled
was completely current. We also tabled the Federal Court judgement in
which Justice Rangiah comprehensively demolished the Liberal Party's
witnesses and Clive Palmer's witnesses and agreed with Western Australia,
because he analysed all the evidence. So, when I see people out there around
Australia saying, ''Where's the evidence for this? Why has Western
Australia put in place a border?''—I have seen some prominent people around Australia saying this—I
ask them to have a look at a Federal Court case that examined all the
evidence. That finding is going to be transmitted to the High Court so that it
can use that as the findings of fact when it deals with Mr Palmer's
High Court challenge to our hard borders. The member for Dawesville asks, ''Where's
the evidence? Where's the information? Why is it out of date?''
It has all been compiled over the past six
months. We tabled it all, and some of it—Justice Rangiah—in the
last month. I tabled it last week, but the member for Dawesville appears
not to have noticed that it has been tabled already.
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