SMALL BUSINESS — TRANSITION PLAN
772. Mr V.A. CATANIA to the Premier:
I refer to the government's
transition plan for reopening when double-jab vaccination rates reach 90 per
cent for those over 12 years of age and that some lockdowns or restrictions
will be inevitable. What financial assistance will the government provide
tourism operators and small businesses that are unable to endure another
lockdown or regional border closures?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
It is a very hypothetical question,
which is obvious to everyone here, including the member for Roe. It is one of
those questions that is very difficult to answer because it depends upon a lot
of circumstances. All I will say is that if we get to 90 per cent double-dose
vaccination, obviously having lockdowns would be a rare event and I would
expect that it would be in the case of those communities that are at relatively
low levels of vaccinations. Our expectation is that when we get to 90 per cent
double-dose vaccination, we will have to have very strong rules about who can
come in and out of remote communities in Western Australia. For regions—for
instance, the Pilbara, which has relatively low levels of vaccination—there
may well be restrictions on who can go into the Pilbara, and they would have to
be double-dose vaccinated. People interpret that in various ways and put
various names around it, but that is potentially what will happen. In terms of
other forms of lockdown, it is certainly our aim to try to avoid that, because
we know they are very debilitating.
I
will make one other point. Since, I think, May last year, we have had 12 days
of lockdown. Between them, Victoria and New South Wales have had
hundreds of days of lockdown, and there has been $12 billion to $15 billion in
federal funding as a consequence and mass deaths. We see this published every
day; on some days, 10 people die, 15 people die, six people die, 25 people die.
I think, over there, they are sort of used to it, whereas here, we are
horrified by it. We want to avoid that, and that is why we are putting these
measures in place—to avoid that. We got
advice that indicated up to 200 people would die if we went at 80 per cent as
opposed to 90 per cent. I know that gets a lot of criticism; I know
there are media commentators over east, and some here, and Liberal Party
politicians who criticise that, but imagine if we ignored that and 200 people
died—that would affect 200 families. That is why we are very cautious
and will continue to be cautious. Members opposite can ask all the hypothetical
questions they like, but our response to all of this is that caution—being
very careful—works.