Domestic borders, including NT’s, should lift in July if ‘common sense prevails’: Prime Minister

IF ‘common sense’ prevails, Australia’s domestic borders, including the NT’s, would open sometime in July, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said

IF “common sense” prevails, Australia’s domestic borders, including the NT’s, would open sometime in July, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said.

The debate around domestic border openings has intensified across states and territories in the past fortnight, with federal and jurisdiction leaders and their ministers butting heads about when free movement across the country will recommence.

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Mr Morrison, speaking after a National Cabinet meeting on Friday, said under the national three-step road map to recovery interstate borders were scheduled to be open at some stage in July, though it would be “preferable” if leaders opened borders sooner to revive tourism.

“I think we’ve got to keep the issue in perspective. We don’t agree on everything,” he said.

“I still remain absolutely optimistic that common sense will ultimately prevail on the timetable that National Cabinet has set out.”

It comes a day after Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced the first set of restrictions would be pared back from June 15.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner and NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker address media regarding the latest updates on the NT’s coronavirus restrictions. Picture: Che Chorley

Mr Gunner has refused to “pluck a date out of thin air”, arguing the NT would open its borders “when it is safe, and not sooner”.

The NT Government’s move to scrap mandatory hotel quarantine and allow people to isolate for 14 days at appropriate accommodation of their choosing, and the switch from monthly to weekly reviews of the Territory’s border controls, has been welcomed by NT Airports.

Chief executive Tony Edmondstone, who previously advocated for the borders to be opened on July 1 with appropriate controls, said the company supported the “current pragmatic approach to a safe and orderly reopening of the NT border”.

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“Including the recently announced self-quarantine ability,” he said.

Relaxation of quarantine rules from June 15 will come with a new testing regimen, with people to be tested within the first 72 hours of their 14-day lockdown and again 72 hours prior to their freedom.

How well these new rules work in containing coronavirus is a “critical step”, alongside a decline in community transmission numbers in southern states, toward unlocking the NT’s borders completely, Mr Gunner said.