Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I actually thank Senator Pratt for moving this motion. But I have to say that, when I read it this morning, I thought to myself that this must have been moved by an eastern state senator because they didn't actually know what was going on in WA—it wasn't possible. I thank my colleague Senator Small for his contribution earlier, and he made a very similar point. But, no, it was actually moved by a Western Australian senator, Senator Louise Pratt. This is quite remarkable. Maybe those on the other side don't take the opportunity to think much about Western Australia or know much about Western Australia. If you did, you'd know that the Western Australian health system is in absolute crisis right now—absolute crisis. We don't have COVID, though; it's got nothing to do with COVID. The health system is in a state of crisis because of poor management by the Labor government over there in Western Australia.

This isn't hyperbole. On Saturday, the AMA WA president revealed that Western Australia has the lowest rate of ICU beds per capita in the nation, despite the fact that the McGowan government announced a $5 billion surplus. When asked about this statistic, the AMA president in Western Australia had this to say:

Unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me because the McGowan government effectively flatlined operational budget for WA health over the last four years …

What is even more galling about this ICU bed figure is that it's actually less than what was available last year. It's actually 10 per cent lower than before we went into the COVID pandemic. The big announcements that were made, absolutely necessarily, because of the pandemic, were that we needed to shut everything down, go into lockdown and have social distancing. We had to do all the things that were necessary to help the system to be able to deal with COVID, and part of it was to build up our capability within the hospital system. It was to get the extra beds that were necessary, to get the staff that were necessary, to get the equipment that was necessary. But, when it comes to ICU beds, there are actually 10 per cent less than before we even went into the pandemic.

Senator Pratt's motion mentions 'shortage of beds, overcrowded emergency departments and longer waits as a result of COVID-19 patients in hospitals'. But, as I said, there's no COVID in Western Australia, so how this motion really should read is, 'The WA health system is facing a shortage of beds, overcrowded emergency departments and longer waits as a result of serious underinvestment and mismanagement by the WA Labor Party.' Since the coalition government came into power, we have increased funding to WA hospitals by 72.8 per cent. The WA government, over the same time, has increased it by 18.4 per cent. So some four times more investment in WA hospitals has been delivered by the Morrison government, and state Labor are found wanting.

Premier McGowan's rigid insistence on his hard border was necessary; we accept that. It was, however, responsible in part for staff shortages across the state health system. And it's not only there but also in our resources sector. Senator Small and I were recently in Kalgoorlie, and we went out to the goldmine there, right in the centre of town, and they've got a shortage of truck drivers; they need 60 truck drivers. They estimate that there's about $100 million in revenue for this country if they could fill those jobs, but there isn't because they can't get the staff. And that's what we're seeing in our hospital system right now.

A recent survey of more than 600 doctors has highlighted a number of other contributing factors, most of which can be laid directly at the feet of Western Australia's health minister, Roger Cook. There have been reports of staff at hospitals across Perth having panic attacks and taking stress leave due to staff shortages, which is a sad irony, as it's making the situation even wors The Australian nursing federation secretary—a union boss, nonetheless!—recently suggested that Roger Cook should find another job. I'll add my name to that: the health minister in Western Australia should find a different job, because he can't manage the administration of WA hospitals. Staff at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, Perth's dedicated maternity hospital, recently rallied to protest the abysmal staffing at their place of work. These are health workers and union members protesting the 'dangerous conditions' that staff are required to work under. My wife is a nurse; my sister is a nurse as well. The stress that they and other members of that workforce are under in Western Australia right now is horrendous. The nursing federation representative spoke about dangerous conditions.

In 2017, Roger Cook declared that monthly ambulance ramping of 1,030 hours under the Barnett Liberal government was a massive failure and a crisis. Since being elected to government in Western Australia in 2017, Labor has overseen an average monthly ramping of nearly double that figure, with ramping breaking past their self-imposed crisis level some 41 times. In August alone, ramping hours hit 6,528 hours. Ramping hours for October are already at 2,950. This is why I'm saying that it's in a state of crisis. These figures represent the hours Western Australians spend sitting in an ambulance, unable to get appropriate care because the hospital is full. This is often combined with code yellows, which signify that the hospital is completely full. We don't have COVID in Western Australia. There are no cases of COVID in WA; thank God for that. I acknowledge the efforts of the McGowan government for that, but they have completely abandoned their responsibility for looking after the health system of Western Australia.

Earlier today, we saw a bold and appropriate move from the Queensland government. They've provided a road map to the people of Queensland for what they can expect when they hit their 70 and 80 per cent targets. Of course, that is to open in a safe way. There'll be testing and the need to show their vaccination certification. Appropriate measures are being put in place for when they get to those levels. That is good. It gives people a plan. It means that businesses can plan. It means that families can plan to reunite at Christmas time. In Western Australia, we don't have any plan whatsoever.

Senator Small and I have done a fair bit together over the last few weeks. We had a meeting with events industry representatives. They spoke to us about the opportunities to have some major identity concerts and big sporting events in Western Australia next year. But they're deciding about whether they can come or not based on the status of our borders. It's more about the lack of a plan. Right now, we've got a situation where there is uncertainty. So I call on the McGowan government—and I'm so proud to be a Western Australian in this place right now—to be upfront with Western Australians about what we can expect when we get to 70 and 80 per cent.

On the current trajectory, with the current vaccine rate, we know that we will get there around 4 or 5 December. That's fantastic. We're on track. We're going to get there. We're a bit behind other states, and I understand that. There hasn't been that sense of urgency in Western Australia. There haven't been any COVID cases, so people haven't been really focused on it. But, on the current trajectory, we know that that's when we're going to get there. The government should be making it clear what we're going to do when we get there. It's actually very good logic that you've got to give people that are a little bit hesitant a little bit of extra time to get themselves sorted. I understand that. There's great logic in that, because there is some hesitancy in WA. But why don't you give people that certainty now?

We know that we're going to be at 80 per cent come early December. Give some certainty now. Make known to Western Australians what it is we can expect when we get to that point. There are measures that can be put in place with testing and with vaccination certificates. There is an ability to provide a safe re-entry, and that's going to deal with the issues that we've got with staff shortages, including in our hospitals, our resources sector and right across our agricultural sector, which is having a bumper season right now but can't harvest because of the closed borders. (Time expired)