Question Time

Doherty Institute Modelling

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): My question is to the Premier. Has the Premier received a report from the Doherty Institute regarding the modelling around COVID in South Australia?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:06): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and his interest in the modelling. As I was saying yesterday, there was information and a model that were presented to the national cabinet from the Doherty Institute—

Mr Malinauskas: South Australian.

The SPEAKER: Premier, you have the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Thank you very much, sir—and that was received by the national cabinet. The Doherty Institute works with a number of people—academics, leading medical clinicians, epidemiologists around the country—to compile that advice to the national cabinet. In addition to that, here in South Australia we worked with a number of people who are part of that overall Doherty Institute modelling that went to the national cabinet. They provided supplementary advice to us here in South Australia and that has been already received. There is more work which is being done, and we look forward to receiving that final information.

What I can tell the house is that we will be releasing in a consolidated format the advice that we have received. Some of it, of course, is information that's provided to the national cabinet, so that hasn't been released. We need to work out what can be released there, but certainly from our perspective in South Australia we have received advice, and there is more advice coming to inform our road map out of the situation that we have here in South Australia.

We are satisfied with the information that was received that we could move to the removal of the restrictions on the interstate borders or the state borders, our state borders, as of 23 November, when we believe we will hit that full vaccination for 80 per cent of our population 16 and over. We do still want to receive this additional information which will better inform what public health social measures and also what test, trace, isolate and quarantine regime we put in place as we get closer to the 90 per cent.

That is the information that we are relying on. As Professor Spurrier said yesterday, she is very happy to consolidate that information to the best of our ability in terms of releasing information. As I said, there are two sets of information; one is from the Doherty Institute to the national cabinet, and we are privy to that information, but of course it's not our duty to release that information. That will be a matter for the national cabinet, and the national cabinet is meeting next Friday afternoon. Then in addition to that people from the Doherty Institute—not the Doherty Institute itself but people who have been involved in the past in providing input to the Doherty Institute analysis—have done a separate investigation for us in South Australia.