House of Assembly Tuesday 17 November 2020
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PARLIAMENT OF TASMANIA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY REPORT OF DEBATES Tuesday 17 November 2020 REVISED EDITION Tuesday 17 November 2020 The Speaker, Ms Hickey, took the Chair at 10 a.m., acknowledged the Traditional People and read Prayers. QUESTIONS COVID-19 - South Australian Outbreak - Precautions Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.02 a.m.] The troubling situation unfolding in South Australia is a stark reminder that COVID-19 remains an ever-present threat. During the past month, Labor has made four separate requests through your office for a briefing from the State Control Centre and Public Health. All these requests have been refused. It is estimated more than 1000 people have arrived in Tasmania from South Australia since the outbreak started. These people have only been sent a text message requesting that they voluntarily self-isolate. Some have been told how long they should isolate; others have been given an unspecified time frame. We know from experience, both here and in other states, there is a level of non- compliance with voluntary isolation. We also know that not everyone in self-isolation was checked. Will you guarantee everyone in isolation will be checked? Further, will you guarantee any arrivals from South Australia will be tested, as a precautionary measure? Will you finally commit to briefing opposition parties on the safeguards that are in place to track compliance with isolation requests to prevent what happened in South Australia from happening here? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question and for her interest in this important matter. I understand my office has written to you, providing responses to the questions that you asked. Frankly, I believe that is the most appropriate way to deal with you on these matters, because you will simply play politics - as you have demonstrated throughout this period. If you have questions, send them in and we will provide you with information. A number of questions were asked about South Australia. This is a wake-up call. South Australia has had a long period of time without a positive case. As of this morning, I understand there are around 20 cases and the expectation is that that may increase. Hopefully, South Australia has put sufficient measures in place now, but we will continue to engage and take advice. The Director of Public Health will be part of a national hook-up later this morning, and at lunchtime today I will provide more details on the next steps regarding South Australia. Our response was to ensure we dealt with those South Australians who were in Tasmania in a similar way to the way they would be dealt with in their own state, and the way public health in South Australia had identified the risk. We asked those who were in the state to self- isolate as we worked through and understood the circumstances. Those who had been in Tuesday 17 November 2020 1 contact with the Lyell McEwin Hospital between - I am advised - the hours of 3.30 on Friday, 13 November and 4 a.m. on Saturday 14 November, were asked to come forward and be tested. Otherwise they were asked to remain in isolation until we fully understood what was occurring in South Australia. I consider that was a proportionate and reasonable response from public health. Those people who entered Tasmania last night have been placed into appropriate quarantine - either in government facilities, or in an appropriate residence should that be available for them. I presume for Tasmanians coming home, in the main, that is exactly where they have been quarantined. Today, when we are fully informed on the South Australian situation, we will announce the steps moving forward. I indicated yesterday there may be a nuanced position. It appears that the outbreak in South Australia is largely contained within the metropolitan area, and regional South Australia remains relatively virus free - in fact, it may be more appropriate to say remains virus free. Public Health will provide the Government with advice, and later today we will announce and explain that advice to Tasmanians - and to South Australians who are here. I understand that South Australians should have received two text messages in the last 24 hours, asking them to remain in isolation until further advice is provided today. Turning to the question from the Leader of the Opposition: 'Are we going to test every South Australian who enters the state?' On many occasions in this place I have explained Public Health advice about the testing arrangements at our border. The point that Public Health has made about testing is that, because of the gestation period of this virus, testing somebody at a point in time at the border could simply provide them with a false sense of security as they enter our community. That message seems to have been lost. I doubt any number of briefings providing you with that information from Public Health would change your mind. Ms White - Are you looking at what is happening internationally now, around how they are managing travel? You seem oblivious. Madam SPEAKER - Order please, Ms White. Mr GUTWEIN - Today we will provide a further update during the lunchbreak once Dr Veitch has finished his Australian Health Protection Committee (AHPC) briefing with the CMOs from all the other states and territories, and we will announce what the next steps will be regarding South Australia. I had some direct feedback from someone in South Australia over the weekend, about the way our response in Tasmania has been adopted by many in the hospitality industry and the steps we are taking. To be frank, the point was made that we are light years ahead of what was occurring in South Australia. In South Australia they had relaxed social distancing and very few venues were taking details - which is, as at last Friday, mandatory in Tasmanian cafes, pubs, restaurants. Interestingly enough, I was in Burnie on Friday afternoon, and I had the opportunity to have a cup of coffee at a small restaurant and was very pleased to walk in and see hand sanitiser, and a QR code to register my details. Spot on. Many of our businesses, prior to it being mandated, had already taken those steps. Now it is mandated, we will work with them with WorkSafe Tasmania to ensure that they comply and keep their staff and their customers safe. Tuesday 17 November 2020 2 With regard to South Australia, we will provide a further update later today. We will act on Public Health advice as we have done right throughout this; Public Health advice which has ensured that Tasmania has been kept safe and to help us underpin growth in our economy at the same time. COVID-19 - International Arrivals Quarantine Arrangements Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.11 a.m.] Yesterday you deferred your voluntary offer to accept 450 international arrivals into hotel quarantine until next month. You said you have not yet reached an agreement with the Commonwealth over resources to staff quarantine arrangements. Can you detail what you have requested from the Commonwealth and what the state would need to proceed before it accepts international travellers? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for that question and for her interest in this matter. What we will need before we proceed is advice from Public Health that the arrangements in place are suitable. It is important that we dot every 'i and cross every 't', should we go down this path. The national partnership agreement has not yet been finalised and it is part of the arrangements. Border Force, the assistance of the ADF and AUSMAT, are resources that we are looking for to ensure that we can, as I have said, dot every 'i' and cross every 't'. We are working through that and negotiating that NPA with the federal government at the moment. It is prudent to look at what has occurred in the South Australian situation, to ensure that any arrangements that are finalised take into account what has occurred in South Australia and the challenges they have faced. That is exactly what we will do. We want to ensure that we can do out bit for the country and for Australians wanting to come home. There are members in this place who have been supportive of ensuring we can bring Australians home. That is the key point to make: the repat flights are bringing Australian citizens back; Australian citizens who have found themselves in other countries without support. They may have been working on contract and their contract has finished and there is no access to social security or to other supports. As a state that is part of a federation, we will do our bit but we will do our bit when we are satisfied that the arrangements in place are suitable for the Tasmanian circumstances, and that they are signed off by Public Health and by our state Health commander. We have not finished those negotiations, so it is appropriate that that be deferred and that we work through those arrangements and get to a point where we are all satisfied with the arrangements that are put in place. Tuesday 17 November 2020 3 Budget 2020-21 - Climate Change Dr WOODRUFF question to MINISTER for CLIMATE CHANGE, Mr GUTWEIN [10.14 a.m.] The day after you released your first Budget as Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Climate Change, the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO released their State of the Climate 2020 report. The science is in; we are already living in a climate emergency.