Skip to main content
Home
  • The Legislative Assembly meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Assembly sit 16/04/2024
  • The Legislative Council meets on 16/04/2024 (01:00 PM)
    Council sit 16/04/2024
  • The Public Administration meets on 08/04/2024 (10:00 AM)
    Committee meet 08/04/2024

Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 772 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 16 November 2021 by Mr V.A. Catania

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

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.