WA bending the rules in bid to save Perth Ashes Test

WA plans to allow ­England and Australia players to spend only five days in quarantine add to the growing animosity towards the state’s hard border stance.

A view of Perth’s Optus Stadium during the First Test match between Australia and New Zealand in December 2019. Picture: Getty Images

The West Australian government’s plans to allow the ­England and Australian cricket teams to spend only five days in quarantine in order to save the Perth Ashes Test have added to the growing animosity towards the state’s hard border position.

People from Victoria are still effectively barred from ­entering the state, while visitors from NSW who do receive approval to travel into WA must self-isolate for 14 days. But the government will allow the visiting cricket teams to spend less than a week in quarantine after their arrival following the Sydney Test under plans that are expected to be confirmed in coming days.

Perth’s hosting of the fifth Test had been in jeopardy due to WA’s border stance, with Tasmania formally launching a bid this week to relocate the match to Hobart.

The abridged quarantine for the cricketers would mirror the system put in place during the last AFL season, when teams were permitted to travel in and out of the state on terms outside of the broader quarantine system. While the government is ­increasingly confident that the compromise will be enough to save the Perth Test, the concessions have drawn criticism.

Opposition health spokeswoman Libby Mettam accused the government of being inconsistent on quarantine, and ­argued that those seeking to travel to WA on compassionate grounds should be prioritised ahead of sports people.

“While there has been special favours for sports stars, the real issue is where is the McGowan government’s compassion when it comes to returning Western Australians?” she said.

The president of the Australian Medical Association’s WA arm, Mark Duncan-Smith, said he was opposed to special treatment for a select few.

“Anybody entering Western Australia should be subjected to the same rules,” he said.

“I don’t think it is appropriate to have double standards, and I do think it has the potential to undermine people’s willingness and confidence in the system if other people get special rules.”

WA is the only state without a firm date in place to bring down its remaining travel restrictions, but Mr McGowan has promised to set a deadline when 80 per cent of West Australians aged 12 and over have received two ­injections.

That is expected to be by ­December, meaning travel restrictions may well have eased by the time the Test gets under way in mid-January.

Mr McGowan said travel ­restrictions would change as WA’s vaccination rates lifted.

“We’ll be on the cusp of reopening our interstate and international borders when the Test is held,” he said. “Sport is terrific for morale, but you can’t win. Everyone criticising us for not having the Ashes will now criticise us for holding the Ashes. That seems to be the reality of what the government’s dealing with at the ­moment.”

Sydney Sixers player Steve O’Keefe on Thursday half-jokingly raised the prospect of a boycott of T20 matches in Perth in response to the ongoing border uncertainty.

“I don’t like Mark McGowan, I hate playing at Optus, we never do well, so I’m thinking maybe we just give Perth the two points and just stay at home and enjoy the weekend at home. I hate that plane flight,” he said, adding that the Perth Scorchers should instead play their games in NSW.