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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-12 Daily Xml
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COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (14:25): My question is to the Premier. Why are the people of South Australia hearing conflicting messages from the Premier and the State Coordinator, Commissioner Grant Stevens? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PICTON: Last week, the Premier told South Australians:

I'm hopeful all of those people coming back from interstate that are double vaccinated—that haven't been to exposure sites—will be able to come back and enjoy a relatively normal Christmas in South Australia.

However, today the State Coordinator, Commissioner Grant Stevens, said:

It's important that the work is done based upon proper modelling and not just shooting from the hip. What we don't want to do is create unfair expectations and then have to change it in a negative way when we get closer to that 80 per cent target.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The leader is called to order. The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:26): I don't see any point that has been made there whatsoever. The police commissioner was referring to the arrangements with regard to the testing that might occur as people come back into South Australia, which is yet to be determined and will be based upon modelling. There is modelling that has been commissioned—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —as part of the national cabinet arrangement. I have spoken about this on numerous occasions in the media, but we are as one in making sure that we can get to 80 per cent double vaccinated for those 16 and over as quickly as possible. Then, as soon as we get to that point, we have the opportunity to end state lockdowns and state lockouts.

What I have consistently said, though, is that we will need to continue to have test, trace, isolate and quarantine procedures in place so when people do become infected they will need to go into isolation and their close contacts into isolation. There will still need to be some public health social measures in place, and these are yet to be determined at the national cabinet level and will be based upon further modelling, which has been commissioned about five weeks ago by the national cabinet. The Doherty Institute is doing this work. Professor McVernon provided an update to national cabinet only last week and we are still waiting on that final modelling.

We still haven't determined in South Australia precisely what the testing arrangements will be and, of course, we need to wait until we get closer to the date that we open to determine what that risk is for people coming interstate. For example, sir, you will be more than aware that people who are coming from Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia or Tasmania at the moment have no testing requirements, but from time to time people from those jurisdictions have had testing and isolation requirements.

We can only really determine that as we get closer and understand what that level of risk coming from those jurisdictions is going to be at that time. We don't want to create expectations that there will be no testing and we don't want to create expectations that there will be no quarantine because we need to determine—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan: You created that expectation.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lee is called to order.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —what that level of risk is going to be. But the vast majority of people coming in from interstate, as long as they are double vaccinated and they haven't been to exposure sites or very heavily impacted areas, will be able to come in and then maybe some testing arrangements put in place as they arrive.

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