Vaccinated NSW residents could still be shut-out of WA over Christmas

The West Australian Premier made a bombshell confession that residents in NSW could be shut-out over Christmas, even if they’re vaccinated.

NSW residents could still be banned from visiting family and friends in Perth over Christmas, even if they’re vaccinated.

The West Australian Premier made the bombshell confession on Friday, stating that vaccinated people could still spread Covid-19.

“Even though you might be vaccinated, you can still transmit the virus; it just reduces your prospect of transmission,” he said.

Sydneysiders could be locked out of WA over Christmas. Picture: Bianca De Marchi / NCA NewsWire

“We are just going to have a very strong approach to these things. We will make a decision, when it is safe to do so, to bring down borders with NSW and Victoria, but we are not going to take risks.”

Mr McGowan had previously said WA needed to reach at least 80 per cent vaccination before he would consider bringing the hard border down.

According to the CovidLive website, which tracks the nation’s vaccination rates, WA should achieve its 80 per cent double dose target by December 2.

But McGowan doesn’t think that will happen until next year, even though the prime minister is confident borders will open much sooner than that.

While speaking to 2GB on Friday, Scott Morrison said he understood why premiers in some states which had low Covid-19 numbers would want to “keep things as they are”, but warned they can’t stay closed forever.

“You can’t do that and connect with the rest of the country, and the rest of the world,” Mr Morrison said.

“Borders are no match for the vaccine – the vaccine is what will protect Australia, together with common sense, low-level measures, not lockdowns.

Mark McGowan said the border could remain closed to Victoria and NSW over Christmas, even if people are vaccinated. Picture: Tony McDonough / NCA NewsWire

“We’ve got to live with this virus, and we’ve got to live together, and not apart.”

Mr McGowan has also been accused of being “the Gollum of Australian politics” over his hard border stance.

Dominic Perrottet likened Mr McGowan to the monstrous hobbit from The Lord of the Rings novels in an interview with Sky News.

“Mark McGowan is the Gollum of Australian politics,” Mr Perrottet said.

“You can just picture him over there in his cave with his ‘little precious’ – the GST.”

NSW recorded its worst Covid-19 day ever on Friday, with 1542 cases and nine deaths.