WA Premier Mark McGowan’s snarky border comment in light of Omicron threat
Mark McGowan has issued a thinly veiled swipe at critics of his continued hard border closure, saying the Federal Government’s latest virus measures justify his own.
Mark McGowan has issued a thinly veiled swipe at critics of his continued hard border closure, implying that the Federal Government’s response to the threat of the Omicron variant justifies his own decision to keep Western Australia shut off from most of the country.
Amid concerns over the new strain, chief medical officer Paul Kelly and Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt on Saturday announced a ban on flights from nine southern African countries – including South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique.
NSW and Victoria have reintroduced 72 hours of home quarantine for all overseas arrivals into Australia, while Tasmania this morning shut its border to all overseas arrivals.
On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison also announced the planned reopening for migrants and international students, set to occur today, would be delayed until at least December 15.
In response, the West Australian Premier said the renewed measures vindicate his own tough stance – criticism of which has increased as Australia’s vaccination rates have.
“I think what the Federal Government has done is a fair enough measure, I support it,” Mr McGowan told reporters on Tuesday.
“It turns out that borders and measures to keep people out who might be infected work.”
WA has travel restrictions in place for most of the country – except for Queensland and Tasmania – after restricting access to South Australia again on Sunday, amid concerns about the new strain.
The state’s borders are set to come down when it hits 90 per cent of a fully vaccinated eligible population – deviating from the national cabinet plan to drop borders at 80 per cent double dose – and Mr McGowan is expected to announce an official date in the coming days.
About 75 per cent of West Australians have now received both jab doses.
While that date is slated for late January or early February, the Premier said on Sunday that uncertainty around the Omicron variant meant nothing was set in stone.
“There is a lot we do not know about the Omicron variant but it is believed to be more transmissible than the highly infectious Delta variant and could have more severe impacts on people,” he told reporters.
Mr McGowan added that it was “important Western Australia has strong protections in place for states which have relaxed their international borders”.
“NSW no longer has a hotel quarantine system. It is a big risk and that is why we have had a very cautious approach about other states,” he said.
“Borders are effective. If you stop the flow of people coming in you virtually eliminate the prospect of the virus getting here.
“Being cautious works. Being adventurous doesn’t.”
Speaking on Sunrise this morning, medical virologist Professor Dominic Dwyer said it will likely take weeks before key information about the new variant is known.
“I think there are three things we need to know – how easily does a virus spread, what sort of disease does it cause – severe or mild – and do our vaccines work against this new strain,” he said.
“That evidence takes a bit of time and I would have thought it’ll be a couple of weeks yet before we know.”
World Health Organisation (WHO) spokeswoman Dr Margaret Harris agreed, telling the program that it’s still “early days” and it would take time before the true nature of the variant can be uncovered.
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She said one of the current concerns is the high number of mutations seen in this variant and the news that some people have caught Omicron, despite being previously infected with Covid.
“Some of the information we’re getting from South Africa was that there seemed to be some people were being reinfected,” Dr Harris said.
“So people who have been infected with the previous strain seem to be reinfected with this one.”
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