Geoff Baker MLA | Politician
Geoff Baker MLA
Phone: +61 8 9368 6270
Address: 8/219 Canning Highway 6151 South Perth, WA, Australia
Website:
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24.01.2022 Covid update 3.30pm Sat 1 May
24.01.2022 I'll be delivering my inaugural speech in Parliament this afternoon at 4:00pm If you wish, you'll be able to watch my speech online at the Legislative Assembly website: https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/WebC/webcms.nsf/watch-live
24.01.2022 I enjoyed getting down to Kensington PCYC today, with the Minister for Police, Paul Papalia CSC MLA. So many different programs run by so many good people. Thank you to David and his PCYC team, and Fiona and her youth policing team, for showing us all the good things you do.
20.01.2022 Have a good Easter, everyone.
17.01.2022 Updated restrictions from last night.
14.01.2022 Late yesterday afternoon there was a brief ceremony in the South Perth Library to declare the results of the 2021 election for South Perth. Thank you to Jeff Solliss from the WAEC for conducting a free and fair and (relatively) painless election.
09.01.2022 Stay safe on the roads this Easter. I got down to Hayman Rd this morning with Paul Papalia CSC MLA, Minister for Road Safety, where WA Police were running a alcohol and drug testing blitz on drivers. Paul is very keen to get the message out about driving safely this Easter. Someone has died on the roads at Easter in each of the last five years, and we want this Easter to be different. ... It was also good to catch up again with Assistant Commissioner Paul Zanotti, who has responsibility for the Traffic Branch, amongst other things. While the traffic people are responsible for unpopular things like booze buses and speed cameras, they also see far too many preventable injuries and fatalities from careless driving. I know it's not a popular opinion, but I am a big fan of the work he and his officer do.
08.01.2022 This morning, while we still have to wear masks in some places, we are now mostly back to the way of life we’ve been able to enjoy for many months now. But ther...e’s no doubt that the lockdown across last weekend and the restrictions this week were tough. Making the decision to return Perth and Peel to a lockdown was not easy and it’s one that I take full responsibility for. It was a decision we made based solely on the health advice, and is one I would make again. In the circumstances, a lockdown and these strict restrictions were justified. Facing the potential spread of COVID-19 in the community, we know from experience that a strong, immediate response is the best course of action. Though we have utilised lockdowns to address the last two instances where a COVID-positive case had been in the WA community, that doesn’t necessarily mean that would happen by default. The case this week involved a significant number of locations like restaurants, where there is a higher risk of transmission. Prior to entering lockdown we had already had one close contact of the case return a positive test and then saw another close contact test positive a day later. This was significant, as it proved that the case was contagious while they were in the community and, combined with the high number of close contacts, indicated the significant risk that we faced. The lockdown gave us time to get ahead of the virus it made sure that the spread would be stopped while our contact tracing team could work to find and test anyone who might have been exposed. In total, the contact tracing team at the Department of Health has identified 399 close contacts of the three positive cases. They successfully contacted all of them, who must now remain in quarantine for 14 days past their date of exposure. Thankfully, all 399 have now returned negative tests. Additionally, the Department has identified and contacted 899 casual contacts, who are required to remain in quarantine until they have returned a negative test result. Of those, the vast majority have now been tested, and all results have come back negative. It remains possible that we could see further cases over the coming week, particularly within these close contacts. That is why those close contacts remain in quarantine at this stage. In total, that is almost 1200 people who were potentially exposed by just three positive cases. Identifying and contacting those people has taken a massive effort from our contact tracing team, and I would like to thank them for their incredible work. But that number shows clearly that if even a small portion of them had contracted the virus, and we hadn’t put restrictions in place, we could have found ourselves in a very difficult situation potentially facing far longer than three days of lockdown. As we have seen again this week, getting the situation under control quickly has once again allowed us to get businesses back open with significant capacity quickly and safely. That means saving jobs, and protecting what we have fought so hard to achieve across the past year. For comparison, the rolling restrictions and local lockdowns seen across Sydney following the northern beaches outbreak dragged on for months, and cost their economy over $3 billion. Having COVID-19 lingering in the community means that people can’t have confidence that they are safe, costly restrictions remain in place for a long time, and if things go wrong we could end up in lockdown anyway. That is far more damaging than a fast, brief lockdown. It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to lift restrictions as quickly as we have, but this past week should also act as a reminder: Even as we lift restrictions going forward, we must remain vigilant, keep up our testing numbers and keep checking in with SafeWA when we attend public venues. In a potential outbreak, those are absolutely essential to keeping the virus under control.
05.01.2022 It was great to catch up with Helen Tuck and Perth Labor Women (Labor WA) for brunch today. The usual May Day Rally couldn't go ahead due to Covid, but a few of us had some brekkie and a cuppa and a chat.
04.01.2022 Australian Red Cross Lifeblood needs more 0-negative blood donors this Easter. Only nine percent of Australians have 0-negative blood and, despite recent appeals, stocks have continued to decline. Stocks of 0+, A+ and A- are also low. If you can help save lives this Easter, please visit lifeblood.com.au, download the free Donate Blood app or call 13 14 95 to book your donation.
03.01.2022 Visit to the strawberry farm today. So delicious.
