State Government urged to ease COVID-19 restrictions

Opposition Leader Rebecca White says businesses are “slowly dying” and Premier Peter Gutwein should follow Western Australia’s lead in changing restriction rules.

THE State Government is coming under increasing pressure to lift coronavirus restrictions, either by allowing Tasmanians more freedom, or by opening the border to some states.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White said businesses were “slowly dying” and Premier Peter Gutwein should follow Western Australia’s lead in adopting a 2-square-metre rule, replacing the 4-square-metre rule.

Opposition Leader Rebecca White. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

“He can’t continue down this rigid path,” Ms White said.

“We provided a lot of support to the Premier in the early days. We’re very confident now, we’ve got no active cases in Tasmania, we’ve had no new cases for over a month, that we’ve been able to get on top of this.”

Co-owner of Salamanca eatery Phat Fish James Faulkner said although restrictions had eased to allow 40 people in venues, the 4m rule meant his cafe could only accommodate up to 20 at a time, which was not sustainable.

“It’s very hard to control it, people just expect to walk in the front door and grab a seat and having to send people away makes it horribly hard,” Faulkner said.

Hospitality (and Health) Minister Sarah Courtney said the government continued to take advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), which she said was “considering a number of matters”.

She assured businesses she was listening and was mindful of their struggle.

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Faulkner said just three out of 19 Phat Fish staff were eligible for JobKeeper and the rest had been let go, including two foreign workers who had been forced to return home to Brazil and Indonesia.

Other staff were not eligible for JobKeeper because of their visa type or because they had not worked at the cafe for long enough.

Meanwhile the calls to reopen Tasmania’s borders are growing louder from small tourism operators like budget tour provider Greg Price.

Greg Price from Jump Tours. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

Mr Price, who runs Jump Tours, has had to lay off six of his seven employees, with the business staying closed for three months due to coronavirus.

He said the business, having previously delivered wilderness tours through hot spots like Cradle Mountain and Wineglass Bay, was now solely focused on planning its post-COVID-19 offerings.

Like others, he is desperate for a date to be set for a reopening of interstate borders.

“We’re the only island state, so if we say ‘the borders are going to open tomorrow’ people can’t [ …] just get up and drive across the borders.”

Mr Gutwein will provide an update on border controls this Friday and Labor is calling for the state to at least open up travel arrangements with states like South Australia, which continued to be free of new coronavirus cases.

Premier Peter Gutwein. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

However, with new coronavirus cases still being recorded in Victoria and New South Wales, and South Australia set to open its borders to those states on July 20, Ms Courtney said the government wanted to ensure Tasmanians were safe.

“Opening the borders does increase the risk of threats coming in from other jurisdictions and that’s what we’re watching very closely, whether it’s other jurisdictions in Australia or indeed overseas,” Ms Courtney said.

“We are seeing more coronavirus cases every day. We’re seeing more deaths globally. We know that this disease is deadly, we know that it’s easily transmitted, so this is why these decisions are made very cautiously.”

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania CEO Luke Martin said he was alarmed by national tourism industry research, which showed the Tasmanian industry was losing 350 jobs a week.

“This is the equivalent of a major employer in Tasmania like Cadburys, or the Zinc Works, closing every week – or a company like Tassal closing its doors every month,” Mr Martin said.

He said locals risked falling behind the eight ball for recovery as jobs continue haemorrhaging.

“As soon as we have a date that means we can in earnest begin our recovery,” he said.

“It means the tourism industry can start taking bookings again, it means hotels know exactly when they need to start changing the sheets, and restaurants can start cranking their capacity back up.”

Assistant tourism minister Jonathon Duniam said Mr Gutwein was currently “working towards a date” to give certainty to tourism providers.

“We need to operate with certainty,” he said.

“As soon as we have a date that means we can in earnest begin our recovery.

“It means the tourism industry can start taking bookings again, it means hotels know exactly when they need to start changing the sheets, and restaurants can start cranking their capacity back up.”

Jetstar is offering bookings on direct flights between Hobart and Adelaide from August 1.