Coronavirus: Western Australia brings down border in time for Christmas

Western Australia’s hard border with Victoria and NSW will finally come down on December 8.

‘I just want people to know that if there’s an outbreak, we’ll put the hard border up again’: Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: Colin Murty

Australians will once again be able to move around the country all but unimpeded as states moved on Tuesday to dismantle most of their remaining restrictions.

There were tearful reunions as Queensland finally reopened its border to visitors from Sydney and Victoria, while West Australian Premier Mark McGowan at last set a date to open the west to arrivals from the two most populous states.

The mass reopening of Australia’s borders – heralded by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a an important part of the nation’s coronavirus comeback – is expected to deliver a multibillion-dollar boost to the tourism industry as families that have been forced apart for eight months prepare to reunite in time for Christmas.

Mr Morrison thanked the premiers and chief ministers for their efforts in containing the virus and reopening borders.

“There have been a few disagreements but the outcome is what matters, and that outcome is an Australia that is opening safely,” he said.

“The challenge now is to remain safely open because this is important to opening businesses, this is important to opening up more job opportunities.”

Queensland has had some form of border control in place since March 26, with the restrictions denting its tourism industry and causing turmoil in communities on the NSW-Queensland border.

Cars were lined up at the border ahead of the 1am reopening while thousands flew into the state ahead of an expected tenfold increase in flight activity in coming weeks.

WA shut borders to the rest of the country for the first time in its history back in April, a key tool in Mr McGowan’s fight against the virus.

But it will now finally drop quarantine requirements for Victorian and NSW arrivals from Tuesday, as long as NSW continues to record no new community transmission cases.

On top of the reopening in Queensland and WA’s new plans, the border between South Australia and Victoria was reopened while Tasmania announced it would no longer require arrivals from SA to go into quarantine from 12.01am Thursday.

But SA will remain isolated from other parts of the country, with both Queensland and WA continuing to maintain restrictions in light of the recent outbreak in Adelaide.

While the tourism industry has called for border closures to permanently be a thing of the past, Mr McGowan warned he would not hesitate to swiftly shut off the state again in the event of further outbreaks even if that meant Western Australians travelling outside the state could end up stranded or forced into quarantine.

The loosening of travel restrictions has been warmly welcomed by both the business community and the tourism industry, which have been calling for months for an end to border closures.