Mark McGowan says initial email from the agriculture department did not raise red flags about coronavirus

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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.