WA changed this week, after 697 days, the hard border has been lifted.
This is a day that many people despaired would not happen. After two years of Strong-Man posturing and a lack of compassion by Mark McGowan, WA is finally open for business. Along with this apparent freedom we saw the implementation of severe ‘level 2’ restrictions to deal with anticipated high Covid caseloads.
On Thursday, we saw the Premier refusing to make any promise to keep the border open. After two long years of cruel family separation and businesses suffering restrictions and a loss of international and interstate critical workers and visitors, there should have been a commitment that the border would remain open.
Unfortunately, the Premier could not promise this – after two years of Western Australians following all the rules and doing the right thing, the Premier couldn’t hold up his end of the bargain. We all played our part, but he didn’t play his. The Premier said the border could return if another illness or variant currently unknown comes up. He is playing with pure hypotheticals when WA needs certainty, the Strong Man act is getting tired.
Only a week ago, when the Premier announced level 1 restrictions, he claimed he was not “keen” to increase it to level 2. Just 4 days later, he announced level 2 restrictions to come into effect on March 3rd. Throughout the pandemic this Government has shown a disregard for the impact of their restrictions on the business community. With constantly changing rules, it is nearly impossible for business owners, tourism operators and the general public to keep up. In line with the “strong-man” approach taken by the Premier, non-compliance with each new rule was usually accompanied by threats of hefty fines or jail sentences.
When the border was opened, we only saw around 5,000 travellers on the first day, half of which were reported as being returning Western Australians. My question is: Where is the great drive for travellers to come to WA? My assumption is that many would be hesitant to come here due to the Premier’s spontaneous restriction change’s and demonisation of everything non-WA over the last two years. He was, quite frankly, abusive towards people and Premiers in the other States and overseas. It hasn’t helped to sell WA as the place to be.
Over the past two years, the Premier has wasted precious time needed to bolster and support our critical sectors like health, housing and small business. He has been more concerned about his popularity than dealing with the key non-Covid challenges facing our State. This isn’t a Premier who cares for the wellbeing of WA businesses and the community, but rather his own popularity. Now that the world is returning to normal, the poor performance of his government will be further revealed.
Unfortunately, the Premier damaged WA’s reputation across Australia and worldwide. It will take a lot of time to rebuild those relationships.
Dr David Honey MLA
WA Liberal Leader & Member for Cottesloe
Recent Comments