CORONAVIRUS —
CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER — TOWN HALL MEETING
730. Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP to the Premier:
I
have a supplementary question. There can be no doubt that Andy Robertson is
providing good health advice. We are simply asking why the Premier will not
make him available to the people of Western Australia for a town hall —
Dr A.D. Buti: Because that's
not his job; he's a public servant.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Armadale, I call you to order for the first time. It is my job to keep you in
order.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: Is it, in
fact —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members on my
right! Start again, I want to hear it again.
Mr Z.R.F. KIRKUP: There is no
doubt that the Chief Health Officer is providing absolutely the best advice.
Why will the Premier not allow the Chief Health Officer to front the public
town hall meeting? Is it because the Premier is hiding him from any public
appearances and gagging him?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
I do not know what the member is
even talking about. I do not know what this public meeting is; I do not know
what the town hall is. I have no knowledge of any invite for the Chief Health
Officer to attend these things. He is a grown man. He makes his own decisions,
and he has made some very good decisions. We are very grateful for his service
to the state.
Just to get back to the point I was
making before in light of the opposition's constant criticism of the
outcomes in Western Australia, I note that the internet job vacancy figures
have been released today by the federal Department of Education, Skills and
Employment. It is the internet vacancy index. It shows that Western Australia's
internet jobs vacancy index has climbed by 10.6 per cent. New South Wales has
gone backwards by 20 per cent. That is a net 30.6 per cent difference. The gold
standard of New South Wales that the Liberal Party seems always to be proclaiming is significantly worse when it comes
to new jobs being generated, as demonstrated by the figures today. Our
model of having a hard border, keeping the virus out, keeping our export
industry strong and ensuring within the borders that we have a strong domestic
economy that is growing rapidly every day has worked. Although the Liberal
Party seems to want to undermine it every single day of the week and join with
Clive Palmer in his actions in the High Court, we will not accept its model and
we do not accept what it says.