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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 437 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 18 June 2020 by Mr D.C. Nalder

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

437. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Premier:

I refer to the Premier's comments in the house yesterday when he said, according to the draft Hansard

� we have far greater consumer spending and a far greater opening up of businesses than in any other state in Australia—multiples of the other states.

If the Premier was correct yesterday, how does he explain Western Australia having the highest unemployment rate in the country and the highest number of Western Australians unemployed in history?

Mr M. McGOWAN replied:

Today is 18 June; the figures released today were compiled for 3 to 16 May—more than a month ago. During that time, we have put in place, firstly, the phase 2 lifting of restrictions and, secondly, the phase 3 lifting of restrictions, which came into effect on or about 7 June. The lifting of restrictions in Western Australia has been far greater than in any other state in the country. I will take the member through this again, considering he clearly did not listen when I explained it to him yesterday.

In Western Australia, venues can now have 100 people per room and up to 300 people in the venue, with the two-square-metre rule in place—that is, one person per two square metres. That is the rule in Western Australia for cafes, bars, pubs, hotels, the casino and clubs—you name it—across the state. In New South Wales, up to 50 people can dine in a cafe, bistro or restaurant, with a four-square-metre rule. In other words, that is half the density and one-sixth the number of people who are able to go into a venue. Victoria also has a four-square-metre rule, with half the density and 20 people. What is 20 into 300? It is 15. That is one-fifteenth the number of people who are able to go into a venue in Victoria, subject to half the density limit of Western Australia. In Queensland, it is 20 people as well. In Tasmania, it is up to 80 people, so nearly one-third our limit. In South Australia it is also up to 80 people, nearly one-third our limit.

When I said we have opened up our economy far more than any other state, the reality is that that is true: we have. That is because we have been able to keep infection rates low in Western Australia, which is a function of the excellent work by our public health people, the great take-up of restrictions by Western Australians, and the fact that we have been able to keep infections out from elsewhere with our border arrangements.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data that came out today was for the first two weeks of May. That was a very, very difficult period—difficult all over the country. South Australia had an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent; Queensland also had an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent. It has clearly been difficult for many states, and if we look at other countries around the world, we will see that the unemployment rate is nudging 20 per cent. The figures will move around over the coming weeks and years; they will move around a lot. We have to get our economy back up in a COVID-19-safe manner, and that is exactly what we are doing.