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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 472 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 7 September 2021 by Mr P.J. Rundle

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — SKILLED AGRICULTURAL WORKERS —BLADIN VILLAGE, NORTHERN TERRITORY

472. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Premier:

Noting that a record grains crop is forecast for this season and that the industry wrote to the Minister for Agriculture and Food some 10 weeks ago calling for an urgent solution for getting skilled agricultural workers into WA, why has this government failed to put forward a proposal for the use of Bladin Village in the Northern Territory?

Mr M. McGOWAN replied:

The minister and the government have been putting propositions to the federal government now for a considerable time about getting skilled workers who can operate some of the equipment in the grains industry into Western Australia. Unfortunately, the commonwealth government does not want to participate and does not want to help. It may be news to the member for Roe, but we do not control international borders. The state government does not control international borders. That is a matter for the commonwealth government. The commonwealth government controls who comes into and leaves Australia, and Western Australia is part of Australia. We do not have a say over that. In July, the Minister for Agriculture and Food wrote to the federal Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, Minister Littleproud out of Queensland, seeking the use of commonwealth facilities for these purposes. We have had no positive response from the commonwealth.

I know that the Nationals WA has problems with the concept of who controls the international borders, but I want the member to understand once again that the commonwealth government, not the state government, controls the international borders. We have some control, because the High Court has given it to us, of the interstate borders. We had to confirm that in the High Court against Mr Clive Palmer and his friends in the Liberal and National Parties who took us on in the High Court, and we were successful. That is the border we control; we do not control the international border.

We have a lot of sympathy for and understanding of the grains industry and, as the member knows, last year we did the Work and Wander Out Yonder campaign, and a large number of Western Australians were secured for the work that was required to be done in the agricultural sector, in particular in the grains industry. We also have done a lot of work for the horticultural industries by securing workers out of COVID-free states. There are about two or three of them in the world—including Vanuatu and Tonga—so workers have come in on aircraft. They still have to quarantine in a hotel in Perth, and then they work in horticulture and other industries around Western Australia. That system has worked well.

The member has to understand that if we bring people from COVID-positive countries, particularly from Europe, we will have cases amongst them. The commonwealth, quite rightfully, is prioritising bringing Australians home, and, more recently, bringing people—Australians and people who worked with Australians—out of Afghanistan. We worked cooperatively with the commonwealth on that. We have sought cooperation with the commonwealth on this matter. The commonwealth has been entirely reluctant to use its facilities for the last 19 months. It used Christmas Island once: when it evacuated people out of Wuhan back in March last year, it sent them to Christmas Island. Since then, it has refused point-blank to use its facilities.

The state, of course, is cooperating with the commonwealth to set up a quarantine facility in Bullsbrook, which the commonwealth claims will be operational in March next year; I think that is optimistic, but that is what it claims. We will ensure that we do our part in that. Rather than politicise these issues around dealing with COVID, member for Roe—they always seem to put the member up for these questions—I think his efforts would be much better directed to working on the commonwealth, which has control of international borders.