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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 462 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 19 August 2021 by Ms M.J. Davies

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS — DETAINEES

462. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:

I have a supplementary question. Thank you, Premier; I appreciate that answer. Can the Premier confirm whether the State Operations Command Centre has an involvement in approving entry of the detainees into Western Australia? I accept that the commonwealth has responsibility but I am seeking clarification on what role the State Operations Command Centre has.

Mr M. McGOWAN replied:

I understand that the commonwealth makes these decisions. I do not know whether it advised us before it did it. I do not know at what point in time any advice was provided to the government of Western Australia. I do not have that information. I do not know whether the organisation that the member referred to had any role in or knowledge of this prior to it occurring. Obviously, I would expect that the commonwealth would not put the people of Western Australia at risk.

We have done everything we can to keep COVID out of Western Australia. We have obviously had it come in on a few occasions through various means. We locked down and did what was required to eliminate the virus in Western Australia on three separate occasions. Each and every time, we were successful. When the Delta strain came in in June, we locked down and eliminated the virus, as did Adelaide, and it looks like Queensland has. Victoria is doing its best and now New South Wales and the ACT have to do it. Let us be honest: that is because the New South Wales government did not do what was required back in June. It did not do what it had to do, and it did not do it for two months. It put further restrictions in place on the weekend that still do not appear to be harsh or hard enough. That is the problem that the entire nation faces.

It is frustrating as hell to me that we are going through this, that those states are going through this and that New Zealand has to go through it. The ACT, which went without a case for over a year, now has to go through it. Melbourne is going through it. The Delta strain has leaked out of New South Wales into Melbourne twice. We are all paying the price. The entire country is paying the price because the New South Wales government did not do what it should have done back in June and refused to do it for two months, despite so many people telling it to do so. It was divided and it was not showing the strength and the leadership it had to during its moment of truth. It is one of the greatest public policy failures I have seen in my lifetime of any government in Australia. It is just appalling.

The SPEAKER: Members, that concludes question time.