CORONAVIRUS
— VACCINATIONS — TARGET
676. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
have a supplementary question. Can I just clarify that the Premier has had no
specific advice from the Chief Health Officer on the specific percentage
of Western Australians who must be double vaccinated—a specific number—and
how long after attaining that vaccination rate the borders will be relaxed?
Mr M. McGOWAN
replied:
As I have said repeatedly, when we
reach between 80 and 90 per cent we will be able to set a date, and I would
expect that would be at very high levels of vaccination. Obviously, because we
include the 12 to 16-year-old cohort in our calculations, our level of
vaccination will be higher than that in other states. I know that South
Australia has made some announcements about
these things. As part of its announcement, it will have a whole range of
restrictions in place. When South Australia opens its border to Victoria
and New South Wales, it will have a whole range of restrictions, including three-quarter density for seated activities,
half density for non-seated activities and one-quarter density for
indoor fitness facilities. It will have seated food and beverage consumption
only at defined public activities, a gathering-at-home cap of 20 people, a private-activity
cap of 150 people and mask wearing for a whole range of services and settings
across the state. In fact, it has pages of restrictions; I cannot go over them
all because there are too many. That is what South Australia is doing. If we
follow the course of action that I am being urged to by some people, that is
what will happen. Is that what we really want over Christmas? According to the
ABC, businesses in South Australia, particularly in the hospitality sector, are
saying things like Christmas has been cancelled for an entire industry. One hospitality
business in Adelaide said —
''Just imagine going into
Christmas not knowing if you have an income, going into Christmas having to
fire people, stand people down.''
That
is what is happening in Adelaide, South Australia. I understand why the South
Australian government is doing this. It has decided to move earlier, but
it runs the risk of lockdowns. It will have to have all sorts of restrictions
in place and there will be dire consequences for large parts of the economy. We
want to avoid that. Leader of the Opposition, do you want to avoid that or not?
What is your view? All your questions are saying, ''Let's bring
it all down''. What is your view? Do you want us to avoid it?
Ms M.J. Davies: We are asking
you for a date and a plan.
Mr M. McGOWAN: I have told
you when we will set the date. But I do not want to allow travel from the
infected states and therefore have to put in
place all these restrictions; I do not want that to happen. It is pretty
straightforward. We have a bit of a different view from South Australia,
Queensland and Tasmania, but I am happy to explain the view repeatedly. I have explained it to the Leader of the Opposition
many, many times. If she wants to keep on asking the same question, I will
keep explaining it to her.