Mark McGowan has defied national cabinet by declaring he intends to maintain a strict ‘Covid-zero’ policy, even when 80 per cent of Australians are vaccinated.
The hardline Western Australian Premier said he will not hesitate to impose border closures and lockdowns if any cases emerge in the state or around the country.
His rogue stance is at odds with the federal government and other states who want to shelve interstate border closures when adequate Covid vaccine supplies arrive and 80 percent of the population is vaccinated.
The premier also took the opportunity to take a vicious swipe at his New South Wales counterpart, declaring the state’s ‘gold standard’ contact tracing as ‘clearly a mistake’.
McGowan’s comments come as the state prepares to hold talks with the AFL to lure the Grand Final away from Victoria and Queensland, in a move many footy fans have called a ‘fantasy’.
‘Our preferred option is zero Covid obviously and that’s what we’ll attempt to do,’ Mr McGowan told Sky News on Sunday.
‘We don’t want to have deaths and we don’t want to have any spread of the virus, but there could be some easing of some of the rules.
‘For instance when you get to 70, perhaps 80 per cent (vaccinated), if there is a lockdown it might be a lesser area rather than the entire metropolitan area. It might be a country town rather than the entire region.’
He said Western Australia retains the right to put border restrictions in place if cases emerge in the future, saying he will do what’s necessary to protect the state.
‘For the foreseeable future, probably until the end of the year, we’ll have to have a strong border in place with NSW because we can’t run the risk of it infiltrating into WA,’ he said.
‘I’d like to get rid of the border…but I can’t run the risk of the virus coming in.
‘States have the right to put in place the border if necessary to protect themselves from the pandemic.’
With all of New South Wales, the ACT, Melbourne and parts of Queensland living under lockdown, McGowan took aim at Gladys Berejiklian’s handling of the current outbreak which increased by 415 new infections on Sunday.
‘They obviously believed all that stuff about them being the gold standard, which was clearly a mistake, now they just need to undertake the measures that work,’ he said a day after the NSW government finally issued a state-wide lockdown after eight weeks of rising case numbers.
Mark McGowan has defied national cabinet by declaring he intends to maintain a strict ‘Covid-zero’ policy even when 80 per cent of Australians are vaccinated (pictured, Covid testing in Perth)
The hard-line Western Australian Premier said he will not hesitate to impose border closures and lockdowns if any cases emerge in the state or around the country (pictured, Covid testing in Perth)
‘Lockdown properly, put in roadblocks around Sydney to prevent the virus from escaping to the country and I also suggest the Commonwealth needs to roll out more defence force personnel to assist keeping it under control in Sydney.
‘Melbourne did it last year. We did it a few months ago and Adelaide did it recently.’
Western Australia, as part of their strict border policy, will demand all arrivals from NSW prove have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in order to enter the state.
Travellers must also provide proof of a negative PCR test in the 72 hours prior to departure, Premier Mark McGowan announced on Friday.
The new measures will come into effect from August 17, when NSW will be moved into a beefed-up ‘high risk’ category under WA’s controlled border regime.
Pictured: Police officers and Royal Australian Navy personnel are seen stopping drivers at an intrastate checkpoint on the Forrest Highway
Pictured: Members of the public wait to be vaccinated at the Claremont Showground mass vaccination centre in Perth
The decision makes WA the first Australian state to make vaccines mandatory for anyone crossing state borders.
‘Given what is happening in NSW, there’s no sign of the situation improving over coming weeks,’ Mr McGowan said of the new arrangements.
‘These are tough measures, but they are necessary to protect the state.
‘I (also) think this is a template for other states to look at should they want to protect themselves from the raging outbreak in NSW.
‘The situation in NSW is very serious and our hard border arrangements must reflect that and reduce the risk to Western Australians.’
The new rules will be introduced with NSW now being classified as an ‘extreme risk’ state under WA’s Covid-19 risk assessment regime.
Under the ‘extreme risk’ settings, travellers from interstate would be required to complete 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine.
The McGowan Government, later this week will also outline its plan to host the AFL Grand Final as Victoria struggles with a string of Covid cases, including 25 new infections on Sunday.
McGowan (pictured) said Western Australia retains the right to put border restrictions in place if cases emerge in the future, saying he will do what’s necessary to protect the state
The McGowan Government, later this week will also outline its plan to host the AFL Grand Final as Victoria struggles with a string of Covid cases, including 25 new infections on Sunday. Pictured: Optus Stadium in Perth
If the Grand Final comes to Perth, WA will not allow any of the squad’s families, partners or wives to make the trip and will require teams to remain in a player bubble at the Joondalup Resort, south of Perth in Bunbury. Pictured: AFL fans on the march to Optus Stadium
But in keeping with their draconian Covid policies, a number of tough provisions are set to be in place for travelling teams.
WA will not allow any of the squad’s families, partners or wives to make the trip and will require teams to remain in a player bubble at the Joondalup Resort, south of Perth in Bunbury.
Teams will only be permitted to leave their hotel compound for training and to play at Optus Stadium.
‘If the event can’t be held at the MCG, I think Perth has a strong case when it comes to hosting — so long as it can be done in a COVID-safe manner,’ Mr Buti told the West Australian.
‘There’s no doubt an AFL Grand Final in Perth would be absolutely incredible — just look at the Dreamtime match we hosted recently at short notice as an example of what’s possible.’
But WA will face stiff competition from Queensland after it held the first Grand Final outside of Victoria in the game’s history last year.
South Australia are also emerging as a contender for the match if Victoria’s Covid outbreak continues.