Coronavirus: Skywalkers feel force of attraction at Kalbarri … but only WA locals

Two new skywalks opened on Friday offering spectacular views over the Kalbarri National Park — but only for West Australians.

Two new skywalks at Western Australia’s spectacular Kalbarri National Park were opened to visitors on Friday, but the state’s borders remained closed. Picture: Peter Nicholas

Towering more than 100m above the Murchison River some 570km north of Perth, two new skywalks opened on Friday offering spectacular views over the Kalbarri National Park — but only for West Australians, at least for now.

The cantilevered platforms, part of a $24m development of the park, were envisaged as a tourism drawcard that would attract visitors from far and wide and finally open up access to gorges that had previously been accessible only to the fittest of adventurers.

The continued closure of WA’s border with the rest of the country, however, means anyone east of the Nullarbor will need to wait for some time yet before they can take in the view for themselves.

The border closure has received popular support in WA, tapping the strong parochial vein that runs through the state, and is seen as a key reason for WA’s containment of the coronavirus.

The support for the closure is also evident in the incredible approval ratings for Premier Mark McGowan, with almost 90 per cent of the state supporting him and the border stance.

As the threat of the virus eases, however, there is a growing cohort — including the Liberal opposition and the Tourism Council of WA — urging him to reconsider his stance. Tourism operators in the Kimberley are particularly ­reliant on the influx of cashed-up tourists from the colder states and would love to see things open up for the peak winter season.

Opposition Leader Liza Harvey on Friday said Mr McGowan was “drunk on his own power”, accusing him of keeping the borders closed “because he thinks it’s good for him electorally”.

Mr McGowan has been resolute in his promise to keep the borders closed as long as a threat of community spread from the east remains, and this week’s confirmation that one of the thousands of Black Lives Matter protesters in Melbourne had contracted the virus reinforced his position.

While intrastate travel restrictions have been lifted in recent weeks, the interstate closure looks likely to persist until at least the end of the July school holidays.

The government has launched a Wander Out Yonder tourism campaign aimed at convincing the thousands of West Australians who normally jet to Bali during the winter to spend their time and money exploring their home state.

But the focus on using domestic tourism to fill the void left by the shuttered borders has also highlighted the inadequacies of WA’s intrastate travel network.

WA Nationals tourism spokesman Vince Catania said the likes of Exmouth, Carnarvon and Shark Bay were all struggling with a lack of air services.

Exmouth, a 13-hour drive from Perth, has just three flights from the state capital a week, and Mr Catania said tourism businesses in the town were having bookings cancelled because flights were not available or were too expensive.

WA Tourism Minister Paul ­Papalia, who was targeting interstate visitors before the virus hit, has pivoted to sell WA’s attractions to its own citizens. He said the new skywalks were another reason for locals to visit the region.

“There has never been a better time for West Australians to discover the world-class destinations in our backyard,” he said.

“Kalbarri National Park is one of the reasons travellers from all around the world had been flocking to WA in record numbers.”