WA tourism regions face internal borders if vaccination rates lag

Parts of Western Australia will be shut off from other regions of the state and the nation if their double-dose vaccination rates don’t hit 90 per cent, with widespread implications likely for the tourism and resources industries.

Premier Mark McGowan issued the warning on Friday as he detailed the state’s ‘transition plan’ to reopening WA, amid lagging vaccination rates across the regions.

Domestic and international travellers can enter the state once a 90 per cent vaccination milestone is reached, likely to occur in around three months.

Currently, 79.3 per cent of the WA population aged 12 and above have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 63.7 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Mr McGowan flagged his government could cut off access to and from regions for unvaccinated people with low rates such as the Pilbara, which currently has a first-dose rate of 45 per cent.

“If there are regional areas that don’t have a high enough vaccination rate then, pending health advice at that time, intrastate borders to protect those specific regions may need to be introduced,” he said.

“This measure would be in place until the vaccination rate in those regions is lifted to satisfactory levels.

“Cutting off the Pilbara â€" or any region for that matter â€" is not something I want to do.

“But if that’s what is required to protect the local community and local industries, then we will take that step based on the health advice at the time.”

Mr McGowan said fully vaccinated people could come in and out of Aboriginal communities that had yet to hit 90 per cent double vaccination rates, while other regions such as the Pilbara would need to lift rates to avoid similar restrictions once transition day arrived.

“We’ll have to put in rules around the Pilbara, on who can come in and come out, and those people who aren’t double vaccinated won’t be able to,” he said.

Vaccine Commander Chris Dawson said current vaccination rates for Aboriginal people were a major concern, and he had stipulated as much to the Kimberley Land Council’s AGM on Thursday.

“While the rate of the entire West Australian population is about 80 per cent for first dose, for Aboriginal people in the Kimberley ... it is 38 per cent, and only one in four in the Kimberley are presently fully vaccinated,” he said.

Only one in four Aboriginal residents of the Pilbara had received their first dose, and just 13 per cent were fully vaccinated.

“That’s why we have to be very careful with this, we don’t want this disease to devastate the community,” Mr Dawson said.

“Because not only will they be very vulnerable ... people will die.

“This is the message I gave the KLC yesterday ... this is coming, and we will have to restrict your communities if you don’t get vaccinated and reinforce the emergency management direction.”

Mr Dawson was confident the “greater part of the South West” would achieve the milestone with the Perth and Peel regions but held fears for the Pilbara and the Kimberley, another popular tourism destination in WA’s north.

“I’m bluntly saying there are certain parts of the state that, unless something changes, there will almost without doubt be restrictions for certain areas,” he said.

“For some of these communities, it’s going to be a hard grind and they will have to be, I expect, locked down.

“We will not let people in there unless they are double vaccinated.

“People might complain about that. But we have to do it to protect the people, literally, from themselves.”

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said further clarification was being sought on what regional travel restrictions would occur and if they would be limited to unvaccinated travellers.

“We certainly want tourism businesses with vaccinated staff and guests to continue to operate in and travel through all regions,” he said.

The potential exclusion of entry to and from the Pilbara could also have implications for the FIFO industry, with Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Paul Everingham tight-lipped on Friday.

“CME member companies have worked safely and effectively throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with an approach that puts the health and safety of workers and the community above all else,” he said.

“As has been the case throughout the pandemic, the WA mining and resources sector will continue to adapt to whatever restrictions may be put in place.”

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