COVID-19

Mr DULUK (Waite) (16:07): You may be interested to know that I have updated my community survey online and going around to letterboxes across my electorate and put a few new issues on there, including what people think about house prices, rental affordability, job creation, protecting our environment, investing in our schools, thoughts on current COVID-19 restrictions and improved public transport.

Responses are coming back in, and the overwhelming majority of people stated that the most important matter to them right now is around sensible COVID-19 restrictions. I, like many others in this place, am extremely proud of the way South Australians have gone about dealing with the directions and dealing with COVID in our community for the last 18 months. It seems that wearing face masks, checking public locations and social distancing is the new norm for so many of us, and for quite a few this is a small price to pay for the freedoms we enjoy. Certainly compared with what is happening in the eastern seaboards, we are very, very lucky.

But, for many, there also seems to be the question being raised about are the restrictions we have in place at the moment meritorious and do they need to be reviewed. It has been about 140 days since the so-called Modbury outbreak—and, as the member for Florey mentioned in her contribution this morning, there was no outbreak of COVID in Modbury at the time, so it was probably unfairly named the Modbury outbreak—but there has not been a case in the community, an active case of community transmission, for 140 days.

Whilst we remain vigilant about Delta coming across the border at some point, people are asking me, and I think probably many other members, some common questions, such as: why are we limited to having a maximum of 20 people at our house, when over 20,000 people are allowed to attend the football? Why are we seeing more than 20 people squeeze into a small cafe shop, when you cannot have 20 people at home? Where is the science or modelling behind this figure of 20 people? Why did it used to be 50? What science changed that?

Why is it okay not to wear a mask when at the gym and exercising and sweating close to other people, but we need to wear a mask when doing other social distancing indoors? Is this consistent? How effective are cloth masks at stopping the spread of the virus? How are we disposing of single-use masks appropriately? This is a very big question across all South Australia and indeed Australia—the environmental degradation associated with single-use masks. Why are sports players allowed to tackle and bump each other during weekend sport, but they cannot shake their hands at the end of a match? Why can we not sensibly dance in public?

Many constituents in my community oppose the current restrictions, which ban dancing in licensed venues, and oppose the wearing of face masks when there is no active COVID-19 or community transmission in the community. These bans are killing our hospitality and live music industry and our important night-time economy. While we have all shown we are extremely compliant with the directions, as we should be, we want the best for our state. When there is no active COVID in the community, are such strict measures really appropriate? This is a common question put to me.

We all need to seriously consider the impact these current restrictions have on our community. In my electorate alone I know three travel agents who have closed their doors in the last 18 months. Tourism operators are hurting at the moment. One of my tourist operators, Dallas Coull, is a constant advocate for his industry. Small business operators across the board are doing it tough. Airlines and airports are obviously hurting. Hotels and regional accommodation and our university sector are on their knees because of the impact of COVID-19. The small business community has borne the brunt of these restrictions. I would hate to be a small business cafe in the CBD. They are doing it really, really tough. The sooner we can get back to business, especially in the CBD, the better it will all be.

How are businesses meant to invest and prepare staffing levels if they cannot anticipate a return to interstate and overseas travellers? Why have businesses had to operate at 75 per cent capacity for almost two years when we have had periods of over 200 days of no community transmission? I do understand that reducing movement is vital when there is active COVID, but we need to have a plan to let business operate at full capacity, to consider the necessity and effectiveness of masks. Allow us to host people in our own homes, let us dance and give us a clear road map for opening.

Businesses and individuals are very quick to respond when there is an active case, and we know they will do it. So, until then, we should have consistent restrictions. With Christmas looming, we still cannot have the Blackwood Christmas pageant. We have thousands of expats stuck overseas, with South Australians wanting to come home. We have an expensive hotel system which, gratefully, is moving to home quarantine. Let's work together, let's get that road map happening and let's reopen our state.