the modern-day grinch? covid elimination zealot mark mcgowan has ruled out christmas for hundreds of families after confirming that the wa border will stay closed until 2022
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has all but confirmed the state's border will stay closed until 2022.
On Saturday he said the border will only be taken down 'a couple of months' after the state reaches a Covid-19 vaccination rate of more than 80 per cent.
He added travellers from NSW, Victoria and the ACT would be banned from entering until 2022 due to ongoing hotspot locations in those states.
The hardline premier said he wants to wait until the 'overwhelming majority' of the state is vaccinated and that it would be 'complete madness' to open up prematurely.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has stated that WA borders may not open until 2022
Earlier this week, Mr McGowan said it was unlikely that families living in different states will be able to see each other in time for Christmas.
'I know that'll result in people screaming and yelling we should bring it down as soon as we can and infect ourselves. I don't understand that logic and I'm going to resist it,' he said.
These vaccination targets are set to be hit in late November/December based on the current rate of the rollout.
Families may not get to see each other this Christmas as state borders may remain closed until 2022
Mr McGowan told the National Cabinet that different states being in different positions therefore, the plan for getting out of Covid needed to reflect this notion.
'Then we'd probably set a date a couple months after that to give everyone the opportunity to get vaccinated,' Mr McGowan said. 'I think that's entirely fair and I advised the National Cabinet today that's exactly our position.'
He stated that the current national play that was drawn up prior to the NSW outbreak is a one-size-fits-all plan and is not working.
He stated that until WA's vaccine rollout hits above the 80 per cent target, the borders will remain closed
This follows truckies coming from hotspot states needing to return a negative Covid test three days before they reach the WA border
The plan stated that restrictions would begin to ease once the 70 to 80 per cent vaccination rate targets were being met. Mr McGowan is now distancing himself from these plans.
This follows the decision to block truckies from entering WA if they do not return a negative Covid test result three days before their arrival into the state from high risk areas through NSW and Victoria.
If they have not received their result before reaching the WA border, they will have to undergo a rapid antigen test at Eucla or Kununurra border checkpoints.