CORONAVIRUS —
QUARANTINE ARRANGEMENTS — IMMIGRATION DETENTION CENTRES
673. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. Thank
you, Premier, for your response.
Why does the Premier not simply
request additional Australian Defence Force personnel and funding from the
Prime Minister to police the additional hotel quarantine?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
That
is what I said this morning and what I wrote to the commonwealth about. We put
in an application to the commonwealth some weeks ago for Defence assistance to
the civil community. We have already done that. Just so the Leader of the
Opposition is aware, we did that weeks ago. Obviously, Defence could assist the
commonwealth in managing additional
facilities. I do not know why the Liberal Party seems to be disowning the
Australian Constitution. It is
there in black and white at section 51: quarantine, foreign affairs,
immigration are responsibilities of the commonwealth government.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
The SPEAKER: Member for
Bateman, you are on two.
Mr M. McGOWAN: It is in the
Constitution.
I have the ANZ ''Australian
Economic Insight'' document released today, which analyses credit card
usage across the nation. According to the ANZ economic insight document of 16
September 2020, Western Australia is leading Australia
in consumer spending; it is leading the nation in spending on entertainment, on
household goods, on fashion, on dining and on travel. That is the
economic outcome of Western Australia, very fortunately, being COVID free,
having an interstate border and being able to open up our economy far more than
any other state in Australia as a consequence.
Distinguished Visitor — Ms Virma Symons
The SPEAKER: Before our next
question, on behalf of the member for Pilbara, I would like to welcome some
special guests in the gallery today. We welcome Ms Virma Symons and guests. Ms Symons
is the Consul General of the Republic of the Philippines and is based in the
Perth office. We hope you enjoyed your visit this afternoon and will be able to
visit us again soon on another occasion. Welcome to the chamber.
[Applause.]