CORONAVIRUS —
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
369. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question.
Can the Premier explain why Western Australian small businesses —
Ms S.E. Winton interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Wanneroo, I call you to order for the first time.
Ms L. METTAM: — are
limited to 20 people when South Australia can manage 80 and New South Wales can
manage 50?
The SPEAKER: Premier, you do
not have to answer that.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members!
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
Each state is moving along this
pathway at a different rate. Currently, Western Australia has greater capacity
for people to go into a restaurant than do South Australia and New South Wales.
They are making decisions that, from my recollection, will come in on 1 June.
In the lead-up and perhaps over this weekend, we will make further
announcements about further things that we will do. We will make those based on
the health advice, and we will certainly take into account the serious issues
that occurred within the state yesterday and today. If the member for Vasse
wants to ignore all that, ignore the health advice and ignore the fact that
each state has moved along the pathway at different stages during this process,
that is up to her. My impression of the general public is that it is very well
educated about these matters, and it knows that different states have done
things at a different rate and at different stages based upon different advice.
Broadly, Western Australia has been at the forefront of reopening its economy
and getting things moving within the health advice, and we can do that because
we have been so successful in reducing community spread of the virus and the
illness within Western Australia and reducing the rate of infection within our
state. That is what Western Australia has done. Other states such as New South
Wales, Victoria and Queensland have been nowhere near as successful as the
people of this state have been. But if the member for Vasse wants to politicise
that and use it for her own purposes, she can go ahead, but I think the people
of Western Australia understand that we are doing the best we can in a difficult
set of circumstances to support the economy and also keep our people safe and
healthy.
The SPEAKER: That is the end
of question time.