Mark McGowan has refused to be drawn on when Western Australia could reopen to the rest of the nation, despite mounting pressure from the state’s opposition.
Premier Mark McGowan has refused to be drawn on when Western Australia could reopen to the rest of the nation despite mounting pressure from the state’s opposition, saying the state would not fall at the last hurdle.
During a press conference earlier today, the state government announced it would reclassify Queensland from low risk to very low risk from 12.01am this Friday; with Queensland having had 19 consecutive days without a case of COVID-19.
The change means arrivals from Queensland will still be required to gain a G2G pass and undergo a health screening, but will no longer be required to quarantine.
But the border restrictions in place for New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT will remain for the foreseeable future, while WA’s vaccination rates continue to climb.
According to WA Health, 73 per cent of those over the age of 12 have now received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 54.2 per cent are fully-vaccinated.
The number of Western Australians fully-vaccinated is expected to reach more than 60 per cent by the end of the week, and more than 80 per cent of Western Australians are expected to be fully-vaccinated by December.
But WA is no closer to having a blueprint for the reopening of the border, with Mr McGowan again refusing to publicly release a date for reopening that could subsequently change.
Yesterday, the Queensland government unveiled its roadmap to reopen, under which fully-vaccinated travellers who test negative for COVID will be allowed to quarantine at home from November 19, when 70 per cent of Queenslanders are set to be fully vaccinated.
From December 17, when Queensland’s vaccination rate is expected to reach 80 per cent, fully-vaccinated travellers who test negative will be allowed to enter Queensland without quarantining.
But Mr McGowan said that while WA would continue to release new measures to incentivise vaccinations and introduce vaccine mandates in other parts of the workforce, it was in a very different position to Queensland.
“Once we get that certainty, that decision can be made,” he said.
“We don’t apologise for being risk averse in this environment.
“We will be opening the border at some point next year, we’ve made it clear that is what will occur.
“I don’t want to set dates that subsequently change.
“Queensland still has social safety measures, and I don’t want to do that at Christmas time.
“I don’t want to impose capacity limits at Christmas lunch or on venues during that period, which could completely devastate the tourism industry over that time.
“I don’t want to have gone through these two years of extreme pressure on the state only to fall at the last hurdle.
“We want to manage a soft landing.”
Earlier today, Opposition leader Mia Davies called on the Premier to release the state’s post-COVID blueprint for safely re-opening, accusing Mr McGowan of dragging his feet.
She said the government’s failure to outline the plan was hindering the state’s vaccination roll-out, taking a toll on businesses and putting unnecessary pressure on families.
“Other states have had high COVID-19 case numbers and been managing lockdowns but have still produced a plan that outlines exactly what is needed to open up safely,” she said.
“It’s concerning that our Premier refuses to reveal even the health modelling the government is being provided, let alone a more specific road map for the state.
“If there is no plan released this week then the question for the Premier is what is he hiding and why is he dragging his feet?”
While acknowledging that the dates may change based on vaccination thresholds, she said Western Australians should at least have a basic blueprint for reopening of the borders.
“The Premier won’t articulate a specific vaccine threshold, we don’t know the targets they are working toward and by when, we don’t know what (if any) restrictions will be imposed on vaccinated and non-vaccinated citizens, or what might be required for travel when borders reopen,” she said.
