Coronavirus: South Australia to open first borders

Premier Steven Marshall will allow travellers from Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory to enter his state

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall. Picture: AAP

At midnight on Tuesday South Australia will become the first state to lift some of its COVID-inspired border closures, allowing travellers from Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory to enter the state.

In an added bonus, SA Premier Steven Marshall has given an early minute to self-isolating travellers from WA, Tassie and the NT who are holed up in hotels in SA, saying they do not need to complete the rest of their two weeks’ quarantine and are free to move around.

But the gesture is not being returned in kind, with WA, Tasmania and the NT remaining off limits to visitors from SA.

Mr Marshall noted the oddness of the one-way border reopening but said he was determined to move to allow more visitors and economic activity in SA, with the state committed to removing all border closures from July 20.

“What we are doing is effectively removing the border on our side,” he said on Tuesday. “We should see more people travelling into SA”.

The announcement came after the state’s COVID-19 Transition Committee met on Tuesday morning and also announced that attendance at dance and yoga classes would increase from 10 to 20 people and that outdoor assemblies of up to 300 would be permitted from Friday.

Mr Marshall noted the discussion around the constitutionality of border closures and the selective reopening of some borders while others remained in place.

He said SA’s legal advice was that there was no issue with a partial border reopening.

“We have received our advice and it’s pretty clear,” he said.

“Essentially we did not think that it was appropriate to unnecessarily detain Australian citizens without due cause, and that cause was no longer there with WA, the NT or Tasmania.

There has been much debate in South Australia about any reopening of its eastern border, given Victoria is still experiencing outbreaks and the only recent SA case involved a British woman who entered SA via Victoria.

But Mr Marshall said SA was still committed to the July 20 reopening with the rest of the nation.

“What we’ve seen in recent weeks is a massive improvement in every jurisdiction around the country,” he said.

“We look forward to a time when the entire country can be open to all interstate travel.”