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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-08 Daily Xml
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Emergency Management (COVID-19) (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:58): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Emergency Management Act 2004. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:58): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I will not trouble the house long with this, as I think I know what the result of the vote will be. This measure has been canvassed publicly since Sunday, and certainly the Attorney has a had a copy of the bill since Monday. We consider this matter urgent as well.

Basically, the provision of this bill insists that if a person does not comply with a legal order from the State Coordinator to self-isolate or quarantine themselves for whatever period that the State Coordinator sees necessary, if they breach that order, then the State Coordinator or an authorised officer has the option of attaching an electronic monitoring device either on the person or in the person's home in order that they comply with that order. The bill also has a provision that attaches a penalty of up to a year for tampering or removing such a device.

It goes without saying that it is extremely important at this time that people comply with the self-isolation orders that the State Coordinator can legally impose upon people, whether they have been travelling overseas or whether they have been put in some other way at risk of COVID-19 and therefore put the rest of the community at risk. It is important that this happens.

If we believe what the police commissioner says, and I see no reason not to, we have seen a very high rate of compliance so far. Very few fines have been issued as a result of the checks conducted, with some 2,900 checks as of yesterday morning and about 20 cautions and fines issued, I am advised. There is a very high level of compliance, but this emergency is far from over. We will see many more people ordered into self-isolation as the weeks and months go on, and it is important that these people stay in self isolation. It is important for the rest of us, for the rest of the community, and particularly for our more vulnerable citizens that these people comply.

Yesterday, we hastily debated another bill. I will try not to be disorderly, but I assumed that I would in fact be withdrawing my bill today because it would be somehow covered by the extraordinary new powers we are giving the State Coordinator. I was advised in the committee stage of that bill yesterday—again, I am trying not to be disorderly when I refer to this—that the possibility of an electronic monitoring device being placed on someone who has breached a legal order of the State Coordinator is not possible under the emergency legislation we passed yesterday, despite the fact that it gives the police commissioner other extraordinary powers to use whatever force necessary to do almost anything. It remains the case—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: You could have moved amendments.

Mr ODENWALDER: I could have moved amendments; you are exactly right. I assume that would have failed, too. I assumed that the extraordinary powers we were conferring on the police commissioner covered a situation such as this. I was informed by the Attorney that it does not; therefore, I bring the bill to the house today. We on this side of the house believe that the State Coordinator, whether he has expressed a view on this or not, will need in the future every tool at his disposal in order to deal with COVID-19 and in order to stop the spread of COVID-19. We believe that this is an important step in the right direction.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Pederick.

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