Shadow Minister for Health Zak Kirkup has called on the McGowan Labor Government to divulge how many Victorians, especially truck drivers, are passing through its so-called “hard borders” into Western Australia every day to ease fears in the community about the possibility of a serious outbreak of COVID-19 in our State.
And Mr Kirkup wants the Premier to also reveal what testing occurs at the borders and what protocols are in place to ensure that truck drivers are not interacting with West Australians while they are in the State, to prevent the introduction of the deadly virus.
“The Premier is deliberately being very secretive when it comes to the number of people entering WA without having to quarantine, especially from Victoria,” Mr Kirkup said.
“Aside from international passengers, the single biggest risk to a community outbreak that could ravage our State is people from Victoria entering Western Australia.
“All COVID-19 needs is a foothold and there could be a second wave, like the disaster unfolding in Victoria. That would undo all the outstanding work from the people of WA in the past few months to keep this dangerous virus under control.
“The public has the right to know how many Victorians are entering WA each day. And what procedures are in place at the borders regarding truck drivers in particular. Are they just let through?
“The Premier has been very open about the fears he has for West Australians because of the spike in community spread of the virus in Victoria.
“So he should be transparent about the traffic coming into Western Australia from Victoria. It defies belief that with a pandemic that can kill people the Government wouldn’t have those details.
“That information should be part of the daily COVID-19 update provided by the Government.
“Every day the public should be made aware how many new cases of the virus there are, how many people have arrived in WA, and where they have come from.
“And the McGowan Government should update West Australians on the total number of people who have entered our borders by trucks, cars and planes since they were closed.
“We asked for the number in Parliament in June and it was more than 20,000 back then, which did not include cars or trucks. The Premier should reveal the new total today.
“The public of Western Australia should receive all of the information from the McGowan Labor Government, not just the good news.”