CORONAVIRUS
— INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS — TRANSITION PLAN
710. Mr C.J. TALLENTIRE to the Premier:
I refer to Western Australia's
safe transition plan to ease our controlled border. Can the Premier outline to
the house how the transition plan will help to minimise any impact the
inevitable arrival of COVID-19 may have on what is currently a free and unrestricted way of life in WA, and can the Premier
advise the house what the response has been to the state's
transition plan?
Mr M. McGOWAN
replied:
I thank the member for Thornlie for the question. Our
transition plan is a world first. It is a unique way of coming out of what has
been a very difficult time. We plan on easing border controls with the states
of New South Wales and Victoria, and internationally, when there is no
community transmission in our state, and, combined with that, very high levels
of vaccination. What we are aiming for is a soft landing out of COVID in late
January or early February next year, whereby
we will not disrupt our way of life over the next two and a half to three
months. That is the aim. Obviously, that
is different from other parts of Australia. Obviously, people in New South
Wales and Victoria have had a terrible time of it for basically the last
two years, but particularly the last six or eight months. We are trying to
avoid all that and having to put in severe restrictions, and also avoid some of
the dramatic health impacts that could be experienced if we had COVID come in
before that point in time.
The modelling we released
the other day from the Department of Health indicated that at an 80 per cent
double-dose vaccination rate, there would be far more deaths in Western Australia
than if we waited to reach a 90 per cent double-dose rate. The modelling by the
Doherty Institute, just so that members know, because I do not think all of it
is published, clearly shows that 90 per cent double-dose vaccination is far
safer than 80 per cent double-dose vaccination. That is what we were advised on
Friday at national cabinet, just so that members know. The modelling shows that
200 lives will be saved by waiting, essentially, another month. I know that
there is a lot of heat and angst out there about it, but waiting another month
means that we will save 200 Western Australian lives, we will not put in
restrictions over the Christmas period and we will not shut down businesses and
the like. I actually think that is a fair and reasonable approach to this
situation.
I have noticed that over
the last two years, every time we try to do something or make a decision, there
is a lot of heat and anger from various people around the place, but, at
the end of the day, being careful and cautious has worked socially, in a health
sense and in an economic sense as well. It turns out that since the start of
COVID, the number of people in Western Australia who have contracted COVID here
and passed away is one. The others were from cruise ships that came in from
overseas and that sort of thing, such as the German cruise ship that was in
Fremantle harbour. Over the last two years,
one person contracted the illness in Western Australia and passed away.
Compared with anywhere else in the
world, that is a pretty amazing record. That is because we did very careful
things over the course of the last two years, despite all the opposition and
heat and anger that has been stirred up around the place.
The modelling is there, and
to those people who say I should ignore it, I say: imagine if we did ignore it
and 200 people died. Those same
people would then be saying, ''Why did you ignore the modelling and
allow 200 people to die?'' That is exactly what the same people
would be saying, particularly some of the media commentators from the east.
I note that yesterday the Prime Minister was critical. On
Friday, he said to me that each state is moving at its own pace and each state
is different, which is true. We are different. Increasingly, the longer I am in
this role, I realise that we are different.
We are different. I saw him say on the television last night, ''You don't
want to be locked down. We don't want Western Australia to be
locked down.'' We are not locked down. I just want to tell them over
there: we are not locked down! He said that we have closed borders. We are not
closed to most of Australia—Queensland, the Northern Territory, South
Australia and Tasmania. People can travel away and go and visit, if they like;
that is possible at the moment. But New South Wales, Victoria and the
Australian Capital Territory, where there is widespread spread of the virus—no.
Doesn't that make sense? I remind the Prime Minister that Western Australia
is not locked down, just so that he fully understands. We are the most open
economy and community in Australia. Virtually every other state currently has
lockdowns, has people wearing masks and has restrictions in place. The Northern
Territory has them; South Australia has them; Queensland has them. We do not
have them. Our situation is extraordinarily positive compared with all those
places.
I note that Mr Bradley Woods from
the Australian Hotels Association was glowing in his praise of the Western Australian
approach because it will ensure that there are not restrictions over the
important summer period for many businesses across the state, and his
commentary reflected that the other day. That is true. All those people who run
cafes, bars and restaurants and even retailers rely upon that Christmas trade.
Imagine if we had restrictions and lockdowns
in place over that period because we precipitously opened the border and then
they missed out on that income over that period. Imagine that! I do not
want to do that to them. That is hundreds of thousands of Western Australian
families. I do not want to do that to them.
Perth
Airport also said that it is good because now there can be planning put in
place for reopening flights, particularly internationally. That is a good
endorsement from Perth Airport, and, obviously, certainly from late January to
early February that will be able to occur. It basically means that people need
to wait a little bit more than a month beyond other states.
Today, we have surpassed an 80 per
cent first-dose rate of those aged 12-plus; we are now at a nearly 67 per cent double-dose rate of those aged 12-plus, and we
climb each and every day. Over the weekend, nearly 30 000 people were vaccinated. That is the population of Kalgoorlie,
just so that members understand. Over the weekend, 30 000 people
received doses of the vaccine. The vaccination program will continue to roll
out, despite the criticism of those opposite;
we will continue to do it and make sure we get as many Western Australians vaccinated
as soon as possible.