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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 484 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 8 September 2021 by Ms M.J. Davies

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

CORONAVIRUS — POLICE — G2G PASS

484. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Police:

I have a supplementary question. Given that there are multiple public examples of people who have had their G2G applications rejected, is this just a case of the minister's laziness or his willingness to admit that the system might have room for improvement, and is that the impediment to enhancing our G2G system in Western Australia?

Mr P. PAPALIA replied:

I am confident that the police are applying the criteria set by the Chief Health Officer to protect the state of Western Australia against COVID. What I am concerned about is the constant undermining by the opposition of the defence of the state against a COVID incursion. That is witnessed by the Leader of the Opposition's behaviour here today and on other days, and by the shadow spokesperson for police, who was reported in The West Australian of 3 September as having questioned what the government's priorities are for the allocation of officers. Hon Peter Collier said that the government has got its priorities wrong in terms of the allocation of officers. We have increased police numbers by 513 since we took office. He also said that some 440 of those were assigned to the state's pandemic response through Operation Tide and that another 100 had been diverted to the meth border force. That indicates that our priorities for the allocation of police officers are protecting the state against a pandemic and defending the state against drug dealers who bring meth into the state, and the opposition questions that priority. I do not know where the opposition is coming from. I know that it does not like protecting the state and the border against people like Clive Palmer. The opposition is on his side and would prefer us to open the border and drop our fight against meth, by the look of it. It is extraordinary that the opposition continues to do this, because when it does, it undermines the police. It is attacking the police, who are doing a wonderful job defending our state.