Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed on a plan with the states to open domestic borders by Christmas … with the exception of Western Australia.
Following today’s meeting of the National Cabinet, Mr Morrison said most states and territories had agreed ‘in principle’ on the path out of Covid-19 restrictions.
All being well, the deal will finally allow grey nomads to travel freely between states again, apart from those seeking to head west.
Mr Morrison said the WA Government had held out from the in-principle agreement to maintain its hard border policy. However, he said he understood the state’s ‘special circumstances’ regarding its economy and workforce situation.
“The rest of the states and territories have their timetables and we’re very much looking forward to seeing at least seven of eight open by Christmas of this year,” he said. “And who knows, it could be eight.”
Mr Morrison praised the New South Wales government for its efforts in contract tracing Covid cases, and he said that system would be the way to move forward.
“The focus of the discussion was moving more towards the public health capability so that you wouldn’t need those border closures in the future,” he said.
