Page 3124 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021

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Ayes 7

Noes 14

Ms Castley

Ms Berry

Mr Gentleman

Mr Hanson

Mr Braddock

Ms Orr

Mrs Jones

Ms Burch

Dr Paterson

Mrs Kikkert

Ms Cheyne

Mr Pettersson

Ms Lawder

Ms Clay

Mr Rattenbury

Mr Milligan

Ms Davidson

Mr Steel

Mr Parton

Mr Davis

Ms Vassarotti

Question resolved in the negative.

Original question resolved in the affirmative.

Sitting suspended from 12.11 to 2 pm.

Questions without notice

ACT Health—COVID-19 quarantine

MRS JONES: My question is to the Minister for Health. Minister, my question is about the retrospective health direction made on 3 November 2021, which had the effect of forcing seven people into quarantine after they had decided to travel interstate. When asked about this rule change that forced people into quarantine when they had followed the health directions, you said, “I think we could have been better at clearly identifying that that was the requirement.”

Minister, what takes legal precedence—the Chief Health Officer’s directions made under the Public Health Act, the website and forms that contradict those directions or whatever the Chief Minister says on a given day?

MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for the question. I should clarify that in fact these public health directions did not put anybody into quarantine. The requirement was a stay-at-home requirement, not a quarantine requirement, which is a very, very different thing.

When it was realised that there were some people who were caught up who were between that seven and 14 days, the ACT Health Directorate contacted each of those people and spoke to them individually to see whether they were happy to continue to abide by the 14-day stay-at-home requirement which they had seen on the exemption form that they had submitted. So the exemption form was—

Mrs Jones: Point of order on relevance, Madam Speaker. The question was, very specifically, “Which matter takes precedence?” It has not yet been addressed at all.

MADAM SPEAKER: No, and the minister has a minute to go. I am sure she will get there.

MS STEPHEN-SMITH: If any of those people had wanted to abide by the black-and-white letter of the public health direction that was in effect when they

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