For the first time since November last year, free travel into Western Australia has been banned from every state.
While the state is due to abandon its hard border policy on February 5, WA Premier Mark McGowan has shown he is not afraid to get tougher in the interim.
As other states and territories have relaxed their restrictions in the face of rising vaccination rates, WA has reacted to more Covid cases in those jurisdictions by making it tougher for people to get in.
Now, even visitors from ‘low-risk Tasmania’ need to isolate for 14 days on arrival.
But none of this seems to be slowing down the surging demand for camping spots in the west.
The tiny town of Bremer Bay, four hours west of Esperance, is as busy as ever with its permanent population of 370 ‘exploding’.
Zandra Welham has operated Bremer Bay Caravan Park for 11 years and says the park is booked out until February next year.
“The whole town goes crazy,” she told the ABC. “We get people from Broome, Tom Price, all over … we get the older people that come down that just don’t like the heat, they head our way.”
And Ms Welham said travellers would be eager to make the most of the west’s Covid-free status until the border reopens on February 5 next year.
“I think that a lot of people will just stay in WA,” she said. “I just think that people love this part of the world and they’re starting to come down here more … they realise what we have got on this coast — Albany, Denmark all those areas.”
Shire President Joanne Iffla told the ABC that there would probably be 10,000 visitors or so over the holiday period, and that the town would need improvements in the future.
“It is a bit overwhelming,” she said. “But we just hope that all the people that come here respect the place.”
WA is a definate NO for us
Stay bloody locked up, you are being controlled by a bunch of idiots, no give in families seeing each other, I would say that 75 % or more have families on the Eastern side of your independent country,