Tasmanian border controls plan could be outlined by July, Premier Peter Gutwein says

Tasmanians have been left clueless as to when they can travel to the mainland, as Premier Peter Gutwein makes a date to decide when the state’s border controls will be eased.

TASMANIANS will likely not know until at least July when the state’s tough border restrictions might be relaxed.

Premier Peter Gutwein said it was too early to set a date for when the rules would be eased, because broader stage one restrictions statewide had only just been lifted and a cautious approach was needed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has named mid-July as the restart for domestic travel, but the premiers of Queensland and NSW have battled over when their borders would reopen.

Mr Gutwein said Tasmania would work through easing border restrictions when the time was right, and said he would not risk a second wave of the deadly illness.

“I would hope that in July we would be able to be quite clear in terms of when our borders might come down, and what the date of that would be into the future,’’ he said.

Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said the Premier was right to be concerned about a second wave of coronavirus.

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