PARLIAMENT OF TASMANIA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY REPORT OF DEBATES Wednesday 19 August 2020 REVISED EDITION Wednesday 19 August 2020 The Speaker, Ms Hickey, took the Chair at 10 a.m., acknowledged the Traditional People and read Prayers. QUESTIONS COVID-19 - Border Closure Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.02 a.m.] Just two weeks ago you set 31 August as the date you would make an announcement about when Tasmania might reopen its borders to safe states. Yesterday you deviated from this plan. In an announcement that surprised everyone you have extended border restrictions for a further three months. Like you, we have been inundated with people who have been affected by this decision. They include families of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers, those who plan to attend weddings for friends and family members and, sadly, funerals for loved ones. There are also hundreds of Tasmanian businesses and thousands of jobs that are on the brink if the borders remain closed indefinitely. We understand and accept that you have said you have made this difficult decision based on Public Health advice. However, your own recovery council has expressed the importance of your Government being open and transparent with the community about your strategy to manage COVID-19. You say you have accepted all of PESRAC's recommendations. Will you commit to sharing the Public Health advice and the modelling that informs that advice so people can fully understand why you have made this decision now? Ms O'Connor - Do you not support it? Mr O'Byrne - She said we support it. Ms O'Connor - No, she did not say we support it. She said 'understand and accept'. ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for that question. I think there was a question thrown across the Chamber then: do you support? Ms White - Yes. We want you to table the advice and the modelling so that we can understand it. Mr GUTWEIN - You do support it. Dr Mark Veitch together with Commissioner Darren Hine as the State Controller and also the State Health Commander will be joining me at lunchtime and we will be explaining their advice. It is relatively complex in terms of the moving parts of this in respect of the reasoning behind setting 1 December as the date to open our borders. Wednesday 19 August 2020 1 I have heard from industry that they want certainty. They want to know where we are going. That is why we have set a date and on 1 December we will open to safety restrictions. That is the position we have taken. You only have to look at what is occurring in Victoria at the moment to understand that with them in a state of disaster, and also with serious concerns being expressed about the level of their testing, that they have some challenges in front of them. Today, once again, they have provided an update with more than 200 positive cases; more deaths as well again today. What is interesting is that yesterday the Victorian Premier indicated his concern that testing levels across the community had fallen by 30 per cent. It is only a week or so ago that we were getting testing results in Victoria of over 400. If testing is reduced by 30 per cent and you reduce that 400 number by 30 per cent as well, you get down into the two- hundreds. What is going on in Victoria at the moment is of real concern. They have some challenges in front of them. Regarding the border date of 1 December, as I said very clearly yesterday, Public Health advice, advice from the Department of Health, the State Control Centre, which includes the State Controller and the State Health Commander, has informed the decision concerning the time frame. I can understand the difficulties they all face because I felt it yesterday in announcing that date. It is challenging and that is why we have provided additional support to the tourism and hospitality sector, encouraging increased visitation across the regions, out of individual municipalities to get people into accommodation and to ensure that they engage with tourism experiences. We know this is a difficult period. Another point I will make and it is something that needs to be put on the record, is that Victoria with the difficulties it is in, is 60 per cent of our interstate tourism market. It has to be understood that that market is not coming back quickly. It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that we do what we can to drive intrastate visitation and support those businesses and experiences here. In the last full financial year, my understanding is that interstate visitation impacted on our economy by around $2 billion. In the same period, there was more than $1.6 billion, almost $1.7 billion, spent by Tasmanians out of the state. What we need to do is to encourage Tasmanians to spend locally, to buy locally, and to assist us to employ locally as we work our way through this period. Regarding the 1 December date, if things worsen, if there are no safe jurisdictions, then we obviously have another decision to make. A further point I make in that context is that if things improve over the period to 1 December and Public Health advice changes and that we can have a travel bubble to a safe jurisdiction, then we will accept that advice, but it is important that we take Tasmanians with us. A recommendation from PESRAC was in relation to ensuring that we clearly communicated our response to Tasmanians, importantly what safeguards we have in place and what the plan is. Yesterday, I announced the plan regarding its timing. We will start to provide further information to the Tasmanian community concerning our health system readiness, our ability to track, trace and respond rapidly and importantly, information about what is occurring Wednesday 19 August 2020 2 in other jurisdictions as well. There is no doubt that Tasmanians are anxious in the main about what it means when we do open our borders. We need to ensure that they understand when we say a jurisdiction is safe, what that actually means. On this side of the House, we will get on with the job of taking Tasmanians with us and supporting those industry sectors that need support while we do it. COVID-19 - Quarantine Enforcement Ms WHITE question to PREMIER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.09 a.m.] You have decided to keep Tasmania's border restrictions in place for at least another three months but the sacrifices that people are making risk being undermined if controls at the borders are not properly administered and enforced. We have been contacted by an individual who travelled from New South Wales to Tasmania and was given an exemption on compassionate grounds to quarantine at a private residence. On arrival at the airport she showed her G2G PASS and was given an information pack but then she was left by herself to catch a taxi to her destination. During her 14-day stay in quarantine, no-one checked on her. She was never proactively offered a test. She was only given a test when she insisted on it at the end of her quarantine period. This is concerning, because we have heard evidence from Victoria that, in one in four cases, people who are meant to be in quarantine at home, when they were checked, were not there. In this case, no-one from government even bothered to check that this person was following the rules. Luckily this person did the right thing but how can you guarantee other people will be as responsible? Sadly, this is far from an isolated incident. We have heard similar stories from multiple people who were not visited during their home quarantine period. How did this failure happen? Will you commit to making sure that people in home quarantine are checked at least once? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for that question. I am presuming you have actually brought that to the attention of the State Control Centre or to my office. Ms White - This person did the right thing. Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Order. Order, please. Mr GUTWEIN - Under our system, there are supposed to be regular contacts, and at the end of the day, visits as well. There is also a text system that is established to remind people, Wednesday 19 August 2020 3 if they are in home quarantine, on the 5th and the 12th day, I think, in terms of testing. My understanding is that they should be contacted - Ms White - Is everybody visited? Mr GUTWEIN - Excuse me, just for one moment. Can we have the details of that person, so we can follow up the circumstances? Ms White - Details of multiple people. Mr GUTWEIN - If we could have them. You are not telling me, seriously, that you are sitting on details of multiple people? Ms White - These are people who have done the right thing. These are loop holes in your border control. Madam SPEAKER - Order, please, order. Mr GUTWEIN - I think the Leader of the Opposition has just confirmed to me that she is aware of some issues that need to be fixed, and has been sitting on them to raise in parliament. When did you first become aware? Ms White - Yesterday. Mr GUTWEIN - Why did you not bring it to our attention yesterday? Ms White - I am doing it now, Premier. Mr GUTWEIN - At the end of the day we have a responsibility when we lead parties.