WA minister’s office fast-tracked G2G applications for Labor donors: ex-staffer

Donors to the Labor party were having their applications to enter Western Australia fast-tracked in the early days of the pandemic ahead of the rest of the public, according to a sacked staffer of Deputy Premier and former health minister Roger Cook.

On day three of her unfair dismissal hearing, Sanja Spasojevic claimed Cook tasked her from April to June, 2020, to fast-track applications for members of Labor’s cash-for-access business roundtable and their families through the G2G pass system.

Health Minister Roger Cook with former staffer Sanja Spasojevic who is challenging her sacking from his office.Credit: Nine News

The G2G pass was set up early in the pandemic by the government to allow West Australians to apply for travel exemptions when transiting across intrastate, interstate and international borders, which had varying levels of restrictions.

Spasojevic told the Public Service Appeal Board she worked with a contact in former Police Minister Michelle Roberts’ office to help process the G2G applications.

“Roger asked me to specifically take care of G2G applications for the Labor business roundtable members which were platinum, gold and silver,” Spasojevic said.

“They were to be fast-tracked and I had a ministerial contact in the police minister’s office.

“I was to contact her directly and have our business Labor roundtable members fast-tracked and their family members so they could come in and out of the state on business so they wouldn’t be affected by what was going on with the pandemic.”

The explosive claims come after years of controversy over the state’s hard border and G2G system, which were credited by the McGowan government as being one of WA’s best weapons against COVID-19.

However, the border was decried as cruel by people wanting to get back into the state to visit family and resulted in numerous headlines about people unable to visit dying relatives.

The G2G system was also a major source of frustration for users being rejected by police on multiple occasions or receiving delayed or vague responses to their applications.

How exemptions of the hard border were granted were a source of criticism for the government, with billionaire Kerry Stokes having his exemption handled personally by former police commissioner Chris Dawson and Premier Mark McGowan’s office.

The government introduced a 14-day quarantine requirement on March 24 while the hard border, which prevented all travel into WA except in a narrow range of circumstances for critical workers, was first raised on April 5, 2020.

Labor’s business roundtables have also been a source of controversy for the party.

The roundtable events give business figures exclusive access to state cabinet ministers and are one of the party’s biggest money-spinners, with memberships costing thousands and some events costing donors up to $10,000.

The roundtables are popular with developers and resources companies.

A Cook spokesman said decisions on G2G applications during the pandemic were made independently by WA Police.

Cook ‘intervened’ in medical care

On Thursday, Spasojevic used her time in the witness box to claim Cook personally intervened in her care at her request during a health scare in March, 2020, while he was still health minister.

Spasojevic, who suffers from several chronic health issues including diabetes, recounted a medical episode she had on March 9, 2020, which left her in critical care in the hospital.

She said she had just returned from overseas and thought she may have had COVID-19 and was displaying similar symptoms – trouble breathing, high temperature, and cardiac issues.

Spasojevic said the hospital, which was not named during the hearing, refused to test her for the virus so she called Cook, who told her he would intervene.

“I called Roger and I said they won’t test me for COVID, I don’t understand why,” she said.

“He said that he would intervene and would discuss with his friend at ICU at the time and try and get to the bottom of it.”

Later in her hospital stay, Spasojevic said Cook confirmed he would help her and a member of his ministerial staff visited her at the hospital.

“I was in hospital and was getting sicker and I asked for Roger’s help with my testing and treatment,” she said.

“He responds that he has a friend in the ICU that can help.”

The ministerial code of conduct states that ministers must carry out their duties “without consideration of personal or financial gain for themselves, family members or associates”.

A spokesman for Cook said Spasojevic received no preferential treatment from the minister or his office.

“As is appropriate, the inquiry was directed to the Ministerial Health Liaison Officer who is responsible for managing any inquiry from the public regarding their treatment in the public health system,” he said.

Spasojevic was sacked from her role in October, 2020, after it was alleged she took unauthorised annual leave from her job in Cook’s electorate office on several occasions from 2018 to 2020.

She is appealing to the Public Service Appeal Board to get her job back.

The board has so far heard from a former colleague of Spasojevic’s Zoey McMillan and Department of Premier and Cabinet human resources boss Jane Meehan, who said Spasojevic’s leave file had only three days of recorded annual leave taken after three years in Cook’s office.

Her trips to Vietnam, Bali and Serbia over this period have come under the spotlight.

Spasojevic took the stand on Thursday and was grilled by the government’s Senior Counsel, Mark Ritter, over why she would want her job back with Cook given her extensive public comments criticising him since her sacking.

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