CORONAVIRUS —
INTERSTATE BORDER RESTRICTIONS
712. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
Can the Premier confirm that it is
government policy that interstate borders will not be opened until 28 days
after community spread has been eradicated across Australia, and will he please
table the most recent health advice on this matter?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
It is like groundhog day. I have tabled
the health advice now twice for the Leader of the Opposition. Yes, I have. I have
tabled it twice in this Parliament. The health advice has not changed. I have
given it to the Leader of the Opposition twice. Hundreds of pages of advice
have been tabled right here on this table, and for some reason the opposition
has not noticed, even though I have pointed out every single time we do it—standing
here—that we have health advice that is very, very clear about this,
and we have tabled it for the members opposite.
For some reason the Liberal Party
rails against what we are doing. Liberal Party members seem to hate what we are
doing. Let us have a look at what we have done. Members opposite do not seem to
understand what we have done. I will tell members who else endorsed it, not
just the medical advice—the Federal Court looked at the rules, the
border we put in place. The Federal Court ruled as part of Clive Palmer's
legal action. It stated that the border arrangement
is far more effective than any other model we could have adopted. That is what
it did. It heard from all the experts. For some reason, the eastern states
media does not seem to understand that. It has actually been before a court
that heard all the evidence from experts around the country and has now
submitted that to the High Court.
I
will tell members opposite what has happened so they understand it. We have now
had 160-plus days without any community
spread of the virus in Western Australia. Other states cannot say that. Very
few countries around the world can
say that. What has that meant, Mr Speaker? That has meant that, first, we have
a healthy population and, secondly, we
have in Western Australia the most robust economic activity of any state in
Australia by a country mile. Last month,
we had 32 000 jobs created in one
month. That is the largest number of jobs created in a single month in the
history of the state, since records were created 180 or so
years ago. The strongest growth in one month in the history of the state.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Bateman, I heard you the first time, and no-one laughed, or the second time.
Mr M. McGOWAN: We achieved
30 per cent of the nation's jobs growth with 11 per cent of the
population.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Bateman, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN: How is that
being received nationally, Mr Speaker? Today, the Deputy Governor of the
Reserve Bank of Australia said —
The strongest recovery has been in WA
� There has also been a sharp rebound in activity in the housing sector in WA
boosted by the support from both the federal and state governments.
He was thankful for the resources
sector propping up the national economy. Once again, Western Australia carries
the nation. It would be good if the Liberal Party, certainly at a state level
in Western Australia and in other states, understood that. It is Western Australia
that carries the nation. It is the industries here that deliver the revenues to
the commonwealth government that are shared
with the other states. It is Western Australia that does that. Although people were calling for the closure of industry in
this state when COVID first hit, we said no. Had they been successful in
their calls, the consequences for the nation would have been diabolical. Once
again, this state and the people of this
state who go out to work every day have carried this nation again. Our view is
that we need to continue to make sure this state stays strong and safe.
That is what we are going to do no matter what the Liberal Party has to say.