WA could be the only state not to open borders by Christmas as part of Scott Morrison’s Australian borders plan.
Come Christmas time Western Australia could well and truly be an island within an island after the National Cabinet met today.
Mark McGowan’s continued ‘Hard Border’ stance means Western Australia will be the only state or territory not to agree to a timeframe of lifting coronavirus restrictions by December as mentioned by Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“The three-stage plan, originally aimed to be in force by July, would now aim to be in place by the end of the year in every jurisdiction except WA.”
“Western Australia has set out some very specific circumstances in their state as to why they won’t be joining that aspiration at this time,” Scott Morrison said.
“That said, they wish us well, and they will participate in that process, where they’ve got things they believe that they can offer and I believe there are many things they can offer in that process. So they are not standing completely separate.”
COVID-19 Hotspot Definition
While not getting total consensus across the country on when borders would re-open, Scott Morrison did set ways to define a hotspot.
This nationally-agreed upon definition will guide States on if and when to open and close borders in 2021.
One of the key ways to trigger a hotspot definition in a metropolitan area is; a rolling three-day average with 10 locally acquired cases per day – or 30 cases over the three days.
For a regional area, this threshold is reduced to a rolling three-day average of three cases a day – or nine cases over the three days.
Feature image: AAP Image/Lukas Coch
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