CORONAVIRUS — NATIONAL RESPONSE PLAN —
VACCINATION THRESHOLD
452. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Health:
I refer to the National plan to
transition Australia's national COVID-19 response agreed upon by
national cabinet.
(1) What
modelling has the WA Chief Health Officer undertaken on an appropriate
vaccination rate that will trigger phase D under the national COVID exit plan?
(2) If no
modelling has been undertaken, how could the minister have any idea about what vaccination
rate will trigger phase D—opening up—enabling the minister to
inform the Premier ahead of national cabinet?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
(1)–(2) The Premier gave a very
comprehensive answer to this question just yesterday.
Dr D.J. Honey: On what modelling?
Mr R.H. COOK: Just yesterday —
Dr D.J. Honey: You didn't
answer what modelling has been done at all.
Mr R.H. COOK: — the
Premier answered this question.
Dr D.J. Honey: What
modelling? That's the question.
The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of
the Liberal Party, you have asked the question; you have repeated the question.
I think we will just allow the minister to answer at this point in time.
Mr D.T. Punch interjected.
The SPEAKER: And with no
further contribution from the member for Bunbury, thank you.
Mr R.H. COOK: National
cabinet received a report from the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and
Immunity, and the Prime Minister made public
that briefing and modelling, which showed that we need to get at least 80 per cent
of the eligible adult population vaccinated before we can consider moving to
other phases in the program. The Doherty institute continues to canvass the
fact that we will need public health measures to continue in addition to the vaccination program to keep the community
safe. The Premier made it quite clear that we will use all the measures
at our disposal to make sure that we keep Western Australians safe. That
includes border arrangements, if that is what is required to make sure Western Australians
can live in a COVID-safe Western Australia.
But
there are threats to that. The Delta strain is a threat to keeping Western Australians
safe. New strains that we are not aware of are a threat to the safety of
Western Australians. There is another threat to the safety of Western Australians—that is, the Liberal
and National Parties of Western Australia, which once again come into this
place and undermine the people of Western Australia
and the efforts that they are undertaking, successfully, I might add, in
the face of their undermining, to protect ourselves from COVID-19. I have a message
for those opposite: we stand with the people of Western Australia who want a COVID-19-safe
outcome. We stand with the people of Western Australia in opposing the Liberal
and National Parties in their efforts to undermine us.