The WA Premier says a proposed expansion of police search powers "absolutely" does not amount to government overreach but could not say if officers would be able to search peoples' phones.
Police Minister Paul Papalia on Tuesday announced the expansion of a suite of laws, which he said was necessary to prevent drugs being imported to the state.
It would aim to mimic pandemic powers to give police officers additional authority to search people at border crossings, airports, ports and railway stations, but the exact details have not been revealed.
Ethnic Communities Council WA president Suresh Rajan has raised concerns it could lead to an increase in racial profiling by police.
But Premier Mark McGowan said the measures were purely targeted at reducing the amount of drugs going through border crossings, and were not broad 'stop and search' powers.
"It's at those border entry points where drugs come in, and we know they do now because over COVID we had a dramatic reduction in the amount of meth and heroin and other drugs in WA."
Premier unsure of phone surveillance plans
Mr Papalia said on Tuesday the amendments would include changes to the Surveillance Devices Act, which currently governs the use of recording and tracking devices in WA, including by police.
When asked if that meant police officers would be able to search peoples' phones, Mr McGowan said he could not remember the exact detail of what was being proposed.
"But it may be just around the border areas," he said.
"Some of the criminal syndicates use encrypted apps and so forth, it may be about dealing with those things.
"When we actually finalise it, we'll be able to give you more details."
Those details will be a sensitive subject for many, after privacy issues emerged with both ServiceWA and SafeWA apps, including their use by police in criminal investigations.
The Premier repeatedly compared the search powers to those given to government officials to prevent pests and diseases being brought into the state.
Free flu jabs flagged
Mr McGowan also revealed free flu jabs might be on the cards for more West Australians, depending on whether the state can get enough doses.
A worse than usual flu season is expected this year, which prompted Queensland to earlier this week offer free influenza vaccines to people aged six months and older.
But Mr McGowan said it was too early to say if WA could do the same.
"We had some concerns about having enough vaccines in order to do that, and as soon as we get certainty of supply we'll be able to make further decisions," he said.
Opposition health spokesperson Libby Mettam was hopeful the government could find a way to provide free vaccines.
"The McGowan government have within their budget to provide free flu jabs for the WA population and they do need to look at doing this to ensure that there is less pressure on a health system which is already under extraordinary pressure," she said.
Mr McGowan said he didn't want to make predictions about whether WA was past its second peak of cases, noting official figures depended on people self-reporting positive rapid antigen tests.
He continued to emphasise hospitalisation and ICU figures as the key metrics to watch, and said they remained better than expected.
The number of active cases in the state is continuing to fall since the weekend, currently sitting at 77,331, with 301 people in hospital including seven in ICU.
Western Australia on Wednesday recorded another two COVID deaths and 12,419 new infections.
