July 20 firms as favoured date for Northern Territory borders to reopen

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner will finally name a date – most likely July 20 – that the Territory will open its borders to the rest of Australia

Qantas has announced that it will next week increase its flight capacity to and from the Northern Territory

CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner will finally name a date – most likely July 20 – that the Territory will open its borders to the rest of Australia.

The decision comes in the wake of South Australian Premier Steven Marshall’s announcement that South Australia will open its borders on July 20 and Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk indicating July 10 will be the date her state’s border restrictions start to ease.

It also comes at the same time that Qantas has announced that it will next week increase its flight capacity to and from the Northern Territory.

The initiative will see additional flights to the Territory from Perth, Sydney and Brisbane.

Mr Gunner has been forced to shift ground on his previous hard-line stand in the wake of an NT News and Territory business campaign to open up in July.

A spokesman for Mr Gunner said the Chief Minister would “likely” give a date by the end of next week to Territorians for the opening of our borders.

If Mr Gunner sticks with his 30-day warning commitment, July 20 will be the opening date.

Mr Gunner’s reasoning for giving at least 30 days notice of a border opening date is to allow businesses, health workers and police to prepare – but importantly, it gives the other states more time to lock in their progress and further crush coronavirus before the NT lets them back in.

Mr Gunner said he didn’t want to “stuff it up”.

“I am going to get this right,” he said.

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“I’ve got to be sure Territorians are safe. We are in the final stretch now. Our borders will open sooner rather than later, when it is safe and only when it is safe.

“We’ve got a plan, we’ve stuck to our plan, and our plan is working.”

Darwin Turf Club chairman Brett Dixon said a July 20 border opening would be welcome news for the Darwin Cup.

“We still have people who have not accepted refunds to their Cup tickets in the hope that the borders will reopen,” Mr Dixon said.

“If they were to get a month’s notice they can prepare and so can we for an influx of tourists. This would be a boost for local businesses.”

From next week, Qantas’ reconnected, non-stop service will be:

• Darwin to Perth

Flight routes being increased will include:

• Darwin to Brisbane (from 2 to 3 or 4 per week). Darwin to Alice Springs to Sydney (from 2 to 4 per week)

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NT Airports chief executive Tony Edmondstone, who supports a July border reopening, said he was looking forward to an increase in visitors to the Territory with the introduction of more flights and changes to mandatory quarantine requirements coming into effect next week.

“Tourism is critical to the economic wellbeing of the NT and this first step will provide much-needed support for this industry,” he said. “Our airports are primed, safe and ready to welcome travellers to the NT.”

Hospitality NT’s Alex Bruce said many Territory businesses would be able to handle border openings “tomorrow” rather than have to wait 30 days.