The WA prime minister says a proposal to expand police search powers “absolutely” is not beyond the reach of the government, but he could not say whether officers could search people’s phones.
Key points:
- The prime minister says the changes are aimed at stopping drug imports
- But it was vague whether police would be able to search people’s phones
- It comes with privacy issues with SafeWA and ServiceWA
Police Minister Paul Papalia on Tuesday announced the extension of a set of laws, which he said were necessary to prevent drugs from being imported into the state.
It would aim to mimic the powers of the pandemic to give police officers additional authority to search for people at border crossings, airports, ports and railway stations, but the exact details have not been revealed.
WA Ethnic Communities Council Chairman Suresh Rajan has expressed concern that it could lead to an increase in racial profile by police.
But Prime Minister Mark McGowan said the measures were aimed exclusively at reducing the number of drugs crossing border crossings and were not broad powers of “stop and search”.
McGowan says the new laws are aimed at preventing drug smuggling across the border. (ABC Goldfields-Esperance: Jarrod Lucas)
“You won’t be a target if you’re walking down the street or if you’re having a coffee somewhere,” he said.
“It’s at those border entry points where drugs come in, and we know they do now because because of COVID we had a dramatic reduction in the amount of methamphetamine, heroin and other drugs in WA.”
Premier is unsure of telephone surveillance plans
Papalia said Tuesday that the amendments would include changes to the Surveillance Devices Act, which currently regulates the use of recording and tracking devices in WA, including police.
SafeWA has been affected by privacy and security issues. (ABC News: Kenith Png)
When asked if this meant police officers could search people’s phones, Mr McGowan said he did not remember the exact details of what was being proposed.
“But it can only be around border areas,” he said.
“Some criminal unions use encrypted applications and so on, it may be something like this.
“When we’re done, we’ll be able to give you more details.”
These details will be a sensitive issue for many, after privacy issues with the ServiceWA and SafeWA applications have arisen, including their use by the police in criminal investigations.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly compared search powers to those given to government officials to prevent pests and diseases from reaching the state.
Free flu shots have been marked
Mr McGowan also revealed that free flu shots could be available to more Western Australians, depending on whether the state can get enough doses.
A worse-than-usual flu season is expected this year, prompting Queensland to offer free flu shots earlier this week to people aged six months or older.
But Mr McGowan said it was too early to say whether WA could do the same.
“We had some concerns about having enough vaccines to do so, and as soon as we have the certainty of the supply we will be able to make more decisions,” he said.
Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam hoped the government could find a way to provide free vaccines.
“The McGowan government has within its budget to provide free flu shots to the people of WA and they should try to do that to make sure there is less pressure on a health system that is already under extraordinary pressure. “, he said.
Libby Mettam says the charged government can pay for flu vaccines with its $ 5.7 billion surplus. (ABC News: James Carmody)
Mr. McGowan said he did not want to make predictions about whether WA had passed its second peak of cases, noting that official figures depended on people self-reporting rapid antigen-positive tests.
He went on to emphasize hospitalization and ICU figures as key metrics to consider and said they continued to be better than expected.
The number of active cases in the state continues to decline since the weekend, currently standing at 77,331, with 301 people in hospital, including seven in the ICU.
Western Australia on Wednesday recorded two more deaths from VOCID and 12,419 new infections.
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