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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-27 Daily Xml
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COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier aware that there are a growing number of experts who are advocating for an overhaul of the medi-hotel system, including the building of a purpose-built quarantine facility, including the Australian Medical Association, a growing chorus of epidemiologists and a number of state governments?

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Energy and Mining rises on a point of order.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Yes, point of order, sir: the leader was very clearly using argument in his question when he said towards the start, 'Is the Premier aware of,' etc., and then sought to insert facts without seeking leave.

The SPEAKER: Standing order 97 sets out the relevant requirements. The leader might seek leave to introduce facts. I will give him an opportunity to do so.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: I am happy to rephrase the question. Is the Premier aware there are a growing number of experts in the field who are advocating for an overhaul of the medi-hotel system, including the building of a purpose-built quarantine facility? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I would be happy to explain.

Leave granted.

Mr MALINAUSKAS: The Australian Medical Association, a growing number of epidemiologists and state governments and premiers are calling for change of the medi-hotel system to build a purpose-built quarantine facility that actually keeps the virus in rather than letting it out.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:34): What I do know is that since we had the advent—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Come on, tell us another gag. Laugh it up again.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is warned for a second time.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —of the coronavirus, we have been inundated with so-called expert advice. There have been a huge number of people who have put forward claims, in fact, suggesting absolute catastrophe within weeks back in April last year and who were very clearly shown not to have expert status. We have, since day one, listened to the advice that we have received from our excellent Chief Public Health Officer, the public health administration in South Australia and the experts who are appointed to the AHPPC and ATAGI in Australia. They provided very good advice.

I know that there are always outliers. There are always people that say, 'Look, we disagree with that advice,' and I think that is very healthy. I think that we should be challenging, that we should be always continuously challenging the positions that we have. It doesn't mean that we should be undermining public confidence in our excellent public health administration in Australia.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Cheltenham!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We asked the question of our public health advisers very recently—

The Hon. Z.L. Bettison: The Queensland government proposal.

The SPEAKER: The member for Ramsay!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —in fact, it would have been late last year, when the Leader of the Opposition was making these statements about wanting to create these remote and regional facilities.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my left!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The advice that we received from the public health administrators in South Australia is this would provide an unacceptable risk for a number of reasons. Moving people out of proximity to a major teaching hospital would have very serious clinical ramifications for people that are within those medi-hotel facilities. Secondly, we will be moving them to a part of our state where we do have very vulnerable populations. For example, when it was suggested that we had plenty of room in Woomera—I remember the suggestion—that we should be moving people there—

Mr Malinauskas: Who said that?

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: We have a very—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier resume his seat. The leader is warned. I remind members on my left, in particular at this time, and all members—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting. I remind members that the minister in answering the question is entitled to be heard in silence. The occasion of giving an answer is not an invitation to members freely to interject across the floor, regardless of any differing views that might be held. I am listening carefully to the Premier's answer. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The opening up of detention centre-style facilities in remote or regional South Australia poses an unacceptable risk to those local communities.

Mr Malinauskas: Who suggested it?

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Of course, the other point that needs to be made is that these facilities (1) don't exist and (2) don't have the commensurate workforce required to mirror the capacity that we have. There are a number of alternatives for that proposition that's put forward by the Leader of the Opposition. First of all, that we just stop receiving people from overseas. That may be his position.

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: Standing order 98: the Premier is clearly debating the answer.

The SPEAKER: Well, member for Lee, the question invited the giving of an opinion by the Premier about the relative merits of actions that, with the benefit of leave, were purported to have been advocated for on behalf of a whole range of different participants in the debate. The Premier is responsive to the question. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I think one of the aspects of what the Leader of the Opposition has recently been saying is most worrying. He is saying that we should halt all international arrivals. That is how he is being—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The Premier will resume his seat. The member for Lee on a point of order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The question—

The Hon. S.J.R. Patterson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Trade and Investment will cease interjecting. The Minister for Trade and Investment is called to order.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: The question was very specific to the Premier about whether he was aware of a number of calls for the establishment of safe medi-hotel quarantine facilities, such as the AMA and such as epidemiologists. The Premier is debating the answer by making bogus references to alleged—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Premier is called to order.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Education is called to order. The Premier will resume his seat.

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN: As I was saying, the Premier is debating the answer. For your benefit, sir, it might help you to understand the reason why there is a chorus of interjections is because of your refusal to uphold any points of order that the opposition raises.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Lee will resume his seat. There is no point of order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I would like to take this opportunity, because not everybody has had the opportunity to review the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition, so I am happy to put them on Hansard today. I quote directly from the Leader of the Opposition:

'Continuing to accept international arrivals and putting them in CBD medi-hotels staffed by casual labour puts our state at greater risk of another outbreak,' Mr Malinauskas said.

'This level of risk is simply unacceptable.

'The only way to alleviate this risk is the immediate and indefinite end of the medi-hotel system in its current format until a safer solution is found.'

He basically says, 'Turn the tap off.'

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Turn the tap off. Nobody to come back in.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Hurtle Vale!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: Personally, I think we have an obligation to stranded Australians overseas. Clearly, the Labor Party says, 'No—fortress Australia.' It suits their political narrative at the moment, but we have an obligation to Australian citizens, and we here in South Australia will take the strain and support that national effort.

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