We want WAxit: Extraordinary number of West Australians think the state should permanently break away from the rest of the country

One-in-four people living in Western Australia say they want the state to break away from the rest of the country for good.

WA slammed its borders shut in April as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and has remained closed off ever since.

In a recent poll carried out by market research group, Utting Research, 28 per cent of 3,500 Western Australians surveyed said they'd like to see WA become its own country.

Some 55 per cent wanted the state to remain in the Federation and 17 per cent didn't know.

One-in-four people living in Western Australia say they want the state break away from the rest of the country for good

Perth Labor MP, Patrick Gorman, said the results were 'deeply concerning'. 

'This poll shows those in the eastern States need to understand the secessionist undertones which have always existed in WA,' he told The West Australian.

'The tyranny of distance between Perth and Canberra often leaves West Australians feeling isolated and ignored by our east coast allies, fuelling the discussion.' 

Those who voted in the poll were from five different state electorates.

About 35 per cent of men and 21 per cent of women wanted WA to secede Australia.

Those most supportive of WAxit were aged between 40 and 59 and were not voters of any of the major political parties.

Men and those aged between 40-59 were more in favour for a possible WAxit (pictured Perth's skyline)

Norman Moore, a former politician in WA who has often spoken out about his secessionist views, said he wasn't shocked by the results.

But he said that while he thought the state would thrive on its own, Western Australians felt they were a part of the country more than ever.

'I don't think people see themselves so much as Western Australians anymore, as opposed to being Australians. As the world's got smaller I think a lot of Western Australians now think, "We're now part of Australia",' he said.  

WA Premier Mark McGowan said reopening the borders to states with few cases would provide no economic benefit

Premier Mark McGowan last week remained adamant he would not open his state's borders anytime soon despite coronavirus infection levels reaching a negligible level outside Victoria

The state has not recorded a case of coronavirus in the community for 180 days, but still refuses to open up - even to other safe states

'There is no benefit,' Mr McGowan said on Thursday.

'All we'll do is lose jobs were we to open to those .

'The other states want us to open the border so that West Australian tourists will flood east, not so that people from the east will come here.

'They're only saying all this for very self-interested reasons because we have higher incomes, we have people that are more used to travelling and therefore we'll have more tourists go from Western Australia to the east.'

Mr McGowan said the borders won't come down until the eastern states go 28 days with no community transmissions. 

Mr McGowan remains adamant the borders won't come down until the eastern states go 28 days with no community spread (pictured, Qantas crew check passengers on September 24)