Dominic Perrottet visits Dubbo to mark regional NSW reopening

The NSW premier has fired more shots in the interstate border war, saying there is “no point” travelling to South Australia or Queensland.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has chosen Dubbo as his first destination to travel to in regional NSW after Covid restrictions were lifted.

After touching down on Monday morning, Mr Perrottet said he was glad to be able to mark “the next stage in opening up” at the iconic Taronga Western Plains Zoo.

“I know for many Sydneysiders particularly, it was an unpopular decision to defer regional travel by two weeks but it was the right decision,” he said.

“We’ve made sure we’ve been able to open up safely and the key to that has been the vaccination rate.”

With the state fast approaching a 90 per cent double dose rate and regions like Dubbo already exceeding that milestone, Mr Perrottet said NSW was leading the way out of lockdown life.

“I think NSW is leading the nation out of the pandemic, we’ve seen that today (Monday) as well with our hotel quarantine announcement coming into force,” he said.

“Returning Australians coming into Sydney will not have to be subject to hotel quarantine if they are fully vaccinated.

“These are small steps but they are important steps as we start to learn to live alongside the virus.”

Deputy Premier Paul Toole, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Dubbo Nationals MP Dugald Saunders with meerkats at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Picture: Ryan Young

When asked if he was worried NSW residents would flock to tourism attractions in other states when their borders open instead of regional NSW, Mr Perrottet delivered a blunt message.

“Don’t go interstate, come out to regional NSW and see the best our state has to offer,” he said.

“Even when they open the borders to South Australia and Queensland there’s no point going there because we have the best right here in regional NSW.”

Supplied Editorial A Dubbo business owner snaps a selfie with Dominic Perrottet.

Mr Perrottet said he wanted every NSW resident to consider how they could support those businesses in the state who did it tough during the lockdown.

“Our regional businesses have been doing it tough, our Sydney businesses have been doing it tough.

“I say to people in regional NSW today, come to Sydney, look after some of the businesses in Sydney who have gone through a difficult time.”

Mr Perrottet said NSW Health was “pretty confident” the state was on track to have 95 per cent of residents vaccinated and that he and Deputy Premier Paul Toole would meet later this week to discuss potential changes to timelines for more easing of resitrctions.

“We’re looking at it, the main thing we want to do here is drive the vaccination rate up.

“I remember six months ago or so when we were discussing vaccination rates in our cabinet meeting, we never believed we’d get to the position we’re in.

“We’re always re-examining the road map.”

Mr Toole said the time was right to ease regional travel restrictions and the numbers backed that up.

“Today also means we’ve got over 80 per cent of our regional local government areas that are double vaccinated,” he said.

“Two weeks ago that was sitting at around 36 per cent.”

While in Dubbo Mr Perrottet and Mr Toole joined state Nationals MP Dugald Saunders for visits to small businesses in the city’s CBD and government project sites at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo Base Hospital and an emergency services precinct at the Regional Airport.

“I love Dubbo zoo, it’s the best zoo in the world,” Mr Perrottet said.