Protests to keep WA border closed amid coronavirus fears: Premier

Western Australia’s border will remain closed for a ‘considerable period’ amid fears the weekend’s protests could spread coronavirus, Premier Mark McGowan says.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: AAP

Western Australia’s border will remain closed for a “considerable period” amid concerns the weekend’s Black Lives Matter protests could add to community transmission of coronavirus, Premier Mark McGowan says.

And Indigenous state Treasurer Ben Wyatt has urged people planning to attend a Black Lives Matter protest in Perth to find other ways to express their anger, warning that indigenous people faced elevated risks from the coronavirus.

Mr McGowan stopped short of banning the rally, planned for Hyde Park next Saturday, but urged protesters to maintain physical distancing and not exceed the state’s 300-person limit on outdoor gatherings.

Noting that four more Victorians had been diagnosed with coronavirus on Sunday, Mr McGowan said the state’s border closure would remain closed.

“They will be in place for a considerable period of time and we haven’t worked out as yet when they will come down,” he said.

“But we have to be confident there is no community spread in the east before they come down.”

Demonstrators at protests across the country at the weekend were branded “reckless and irresponsible” by federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

Mr McGowan said organisers of the upcoming Perth rally should make an application to the state’s police commissioner for an exemption if they intended to exceed the state’s 300-person limit on outdoor gatherings.

Mr Wyatt said Western Australia had done more than any other state to protect indigenous people from the outbreak, adding he feared the state’s success in fighting the virus could be jeopardised by mass gatherings.

He said protesters should look at April’s Anzac Day ceremonies, which saw people commemorate the moment in driveways and backyards across that state, as an example of how to make a statement amid the pandemic.

“It worries me greatly that there might be a large gathering where Aboriginal people — who quite rightly, because nobody is disputing the topic of the protest — might be encouraged to come from regional Western Australia to the city to participate,” he said.

“We’ve been so successful but this disease is not defeated.”

The latest rally follows the death of a 40-year-old Aboriginal man in custody at Perth’s Acacia Prison at the weekend.

The man’s death will be the subject of a full inquest, although Mr McGowan said he had received advice that the man had health issues.