Coronavirus

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:15): My question is to the—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Stephens has the call.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Thanks, Mr President.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Stephens will be heard in silence.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The honourable minister has the call. The minister is not being helped by members on his own side either. The minister has the call.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:15): I only heard people from the other side laughing, which is actually quite typical. We are about nine months into a COVID pandemic. They spent months—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: It took months before they even asked a question about the COVID pandemic. They tried to stop the Chief Public Health Officer appearing before the Budget and Finance Committee, so let's be clear.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I want to hear the minister.

The Hon. R.P. Wortley interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley should know better.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Ridgway is not helping either. The minister has the call and will be heard in silence.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Leader of the Opposition is out of order. There will be no conversations between the Leader of the Opposition and the Hon. Mr Ridgway.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. S.G. WADE: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the Marshall Liberal government has been working hard to protect the health and wellbeing of South Australians. A key part of this protection was to restrict travel into South Australia, and on 24 March the first cross-border travel direction was signed into effect by the State Coordinator, Commissioner Grant Stevens.

The Premier said that we do not want to have border restrictions in place a day longer than we need to and today, 252 days later, South Australia is lifting the border restrictions with Victoria, the last Australian jurisdiction with which we had restricted travel. We are grateful to all South Australians for their patience during this time, and we are delighted to welcome travellers from all states and territories who are no longer required to isolate for 14 days.

Following Australia's initial success in halting the spread of COVID-19 in Australia, it was hoped that from 20 July this year travellers from anywhere within Australia would no longer be required to isolate upon entry to South Australia. However, the outbreak in Victoria presented concern for our public health experts, who duly recommended that the border restrictions remain in place until the outbreak was contained. On 29 July 2020, a day which saw more than 600 new cases recorded in Victoria, a hard border was imposed to prohibit entry into South Australia from Victoria. It is noteworthy that that one-day tally is larger than our pandemic long total.

At the time we had already lifted our borders to all other jurisdictions other than New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. At this time 21 roads were listed as permitted routes to enter South Australia, requiring a significant effort by SA Police, with support from the Australian Defence Force, to establish hard roadblocks on the prohibited roads and to erect shelters and powered sites at checkpoints.

SA Pathology has continued to provide a world-class testing regime throughout the pandemic, meeting unprecedented demand during this current Parafield cluster. SA Pathology's frontline staff also played a significant role at a number of border checkpoints over recent months, screening and obtaining COVID-19 swabs from essential travellers and cross-border community members.

I visited the border checkpoint at Glenburnie on the Princes Highway near Mount Gambier on 4 August and was able to see firsthand the extraordinary efforts of our SA Pathology nurses, who would not normally be stationed at remote border checkouts in the course of their duties. I would like to sincerely thank the border checkpoint staff from SA Pathology, SA Police and the ADF, those who worked at Adelaide Airport and those throughout the South-East. These frontline workers showed dedication and professionalism and played a vital role in keeping South Australians safe.

Today marks the end of border restrictions on the South Australian side, a milestone which will bring great relief to cross-border community members, who have endured significant inconvenience and disruption to their daily lives. The border restrictions have had a significant impact on loved ones who were separated or dislocated, often during times of tragedy and loss. I thank all South Australians for their understanding while these unprecedented measures were in place and share their gratitude for the lifting of restrictions today.