WA border ban: Almost 200,000 rejected in 12 months

WA’s harsh border restrictions have been laid bare in a report that reveals almost 200,000 people were rejected from entering the state.

Almost 200,000 people were rejected from entering Western Australia in the past 12 months due to the state’s harsh border rules.

WA Police Force’s annual report detailed how many people were knocked back from entering the state due to the state’s Covid restrictions.

Those hopeful of entering had to apply via a G2G form, which is a type of declaration. Of the more than 1.25 million applications processed for a G2G pass, 182,062 were rejected.

Police escort passengers from a Perth flight to a hotel quarantine bus at Brisbane domestic airport. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Jono Searle

The majority of those lucky enough to enter arrived by plane – with 727,411 people on 8,082 domestic flights and an additional 54,344 passengers coming in on 1,317 international flights.

WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson wrote in the annual report that his officers were at the coalface of the Covid crisis.

“Frontline officers enforce these laws right across the state, at border control points, airports and quarantine locations,” he said.

“They are aided by pioneering technology such as the G2G PASS for travel approvals and G2G Now for quarantine checks, developed to enable travel while keeping our borders safe and making compliance simple.”

Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: Jackson Flindell The West Australian

Just last month, Western Australia’s Premier Mark McGowan hinted the border bans could stay in place for another six months.

The Premier, who has regularly shut off his state to the rest of Australia, told The West Australian the border bans won’t stop until at more than 80 per cent of locals are vaccinated - at odds with most other states, which will open up at the agrred-upon 80 per cent target.

“Somewhere above 80 per cent we’ll try and set the date. I don’t know whether it’ll be February, March or April, I suspect it will be one of those months,” he said.

However, the Western Australian health Minister Roger Cook hinted the borders could be opened earlier.

He said the state was on the “right trajectory” to hit the 80 per cent target “toward the end of the year”, possibly in late November.

Currently, only 57 per cent of the state is fully vaccinated.

Originally published as WA border ban: Almost 200,000 rejected in 12 months