WA decision is national setback

Business Council of Australia

Western Australia’s decision to keep itself cut-off from the rest of the nation indefinitely ignores the reality that Australia must live with the virus, Business Council President Tim Reed said.

“The virus is here to stay and the longer restrictions stay in place the bigger the damage to the economy and to peoples’ mental health and well-being.

“Every day we remain a collection of divided states damages our reputation as a good place to invest and create jobs. Not to mention the incredible toll it is taking on families divided by state lines and businesses dependent on inbound travel.

“This delay will only compound the critical skills shortages that are already making it difficult to get new job-creating projects off the ground.

“The last two years of stop-start closures and restrictions were supposed to be about preparing for higher case numbers, building up health systems and getting Australians vaccinated to manage living alongside the virus.

“Australians have sacrificed so much and done the right thing by getting vaccinated in world-leading numbers.

“Once and for all, it’s time to end arbitrary border closures and get serious about giving Australians the certainty to plan no matter where they are in the country.”

/Public Release. View in full here.