WA premier admits state was told of sick ship crew but criticises federal government email
The Western Australian premier, Mark McGowan, has been forced to acknowledge that his state’s health department was notified of sick crew members on board a live export vessel before it docked in Fremantle, but remains critical of the federal Department of Agriculture for not “backing up” such a significant message with “at least a phone call”.
The admission came after the federal agriculture minister, David Littleproud, defended the actions of his department in response to McGowan’s claim on Tuesday that he discovered sick crew were on the ship Al-Kuwait that day only by word of mouth from dock workers. Littleproud released an email showing a department worker had notified WA Health on Friday about three sick crew members.
After six crew tested positive on Tuesday, it emerged on Wednesday the email had been sent to a generic address within the WA Health department, also copying in an incorrect email address for a specific WA Health worker.
As a result of the delays caused by crew quarantines, the original $12m shipment of about 56,000 sheep destined for Kuwait will likely miss the 1 June deadline introduced to limit transport of live animals to the Middle East during the northern summer.
Also on Wednesday a staff member at a Melbourne hotel hosting quarantined travellers was among Victoria’s eight latest coronavirus cases.
The Victorian health department revealed the Rydges on Swanston worker had been diagnosed with Covid-19, with the cause of the infection under investigation and the hotel shut to the public. Two of the other fresh cases have been detected in staff at Lynden Aged Care home in Camberwell, bringing the total cases at the facility to three.
With authorities scrambling to find a replacement crew for the Al-Kuwait, McGowan has said he would support an exemption to the summer export deadline being granted by the federal Department of Agriculture. As the sheep have undergone a biosecurity clearance, they are unable to be returned to local farms.
Scott Morrison moved to pre-empt any wider opposition to the live export industry, urging people not to get “too far ahead of themselves on this”, and arguing halting live exports would “hurt our economy drastically”.
At a press conference on Wednesday, McGowan, while calling for clearer communication between federal and state authorities in relation to port arrivals, said the initial email revealed by Littleproud had been noted by a WA Health employee.
“The email did not raise red flags ... in these times it plainly should have,” McGowan said in a statement. “We have to be more vigilant. We must do better and we will.”
The federal Labor MP Madeleine King, whose electorate takes in the suburb of Baldivis, where the sheep are being held temporarily, criticised the Australian Border Force for a lack of involvement in the Al-Kuwait docking.
“It looks to me from the documents I’ve seen that the only department that didn’t go on board the ship at some point is Australia’s border force. So what are they doing? Their job is in the name, right. Where are they? They are absent,” she said.
In March, the ABF commissioner, Michael Outram, said that his officers had no duty in law to deal with biosecurity matters, but “since this Ruby Princess case happened, I’ve asked all my officers in every case, board every ship and ask the master: has anyone on this vessel got or had flu-like symptoms? In plain English.”
An ABF spokeswoman declined to respond when asked if ABF officers boarded the Al-Kuwait, deferring questions to WA Health.
On 20 May, the Al-Kuwait sent a pre-arrival report to the federal Department of Agriculture alerting that three crew had high temperatures. Two days later, it sent another email informing the department that the three still had high temperatures, with one reporting pain when swallowing. The fed
eral government gave permission for the ship to dock at Fremantle that day, with a port authority worker boarding the vessel donning personal protective equipment to guide it into port.
On the same day, 22 May, the department sent an email to the WA Health department noting the sickness, but concluding “from information received no concern for Covid-19 on vessel”. This email was released by Littleproud in response to McGowan’s claims on Tuesday.
After hearing of sick workers onboard, on 24 May WA Health officials told the crew not to disembark the vessel. After state health workers entered the ship to test seven workers on 25 May, six returned positive results and were taken to a Perth hotel for quarantine.
Since Tuesday, a further 27 crew have been taken into quarantine, with a skeleton crew of 15 remaining on board on Wednesday afternoon.
The International Transport Workers Federation national coordinator has called for all crew to be tested.
• Australian Associated Press contributed to this story