Mark McGowan refuses to rule out slamming the Western Australian border shut again at any moment even as families reunited for the first time in up to two years.
There were emotional scenes at Perth Airport on Thursday morning when the first travellers landed after the state finally opened to the world for the first time in 697 days.
WA was closed to international arrivals since the start of the coronavirus pandemic on March 20, 2020, and the hardline premier banned travellers from other states for months at a time over just a handful of cases.
Delta outbreaks locked out most of the east coast for more than nine months and Omicron led to all other states being banned from November and December.
Mr McGowan stubbornly kept his hard border up even as the rest of the world learned to live with the virus, even cancelling a planned reopening date on February 5 until WA’s own outbreak rendered the issue moot.
Western Australians have reunited with their loved ones at Perth Airport on Thursday morning as the state opened its border to all vaccinated travellers
Family members wait for the arrival of loved ones with flowers in hand at Perth International Airport on Thursday morning
But just hours after families ripped apart by his draconian policies finally embraced each other, the premier threatened to put them through months or years more hell.
‘You can never guarantee these things,’ he said on Thursday as he refused to rule out pulling up the drawbridge yet again, even while claiming he didn’t ‘any intention whatsoever’ of actually doing it… for the moment.
‘Obviously, if another strain comes along that is deadly or a different illness comes along, or something of that nature, no government can guarantee that.
‘And I’ll just remind you all: the Commonwealth Government put in place a border around Australia as well, and every state in Australia actually at one point in time or another had borders in place.’
Even as he sent a chill down the spines of ruthlessly separated families and friends, Mr McGowan tried to spruik WA as a tourism destination – despite it being low on the list for the vast majority of travellers.
A traveller shares a hug with a loved one at Perth Domestic Airport after Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan ended WA’s 396-day ban on quarantine-free international travel
Labor Leader Anthony Albanese was among the first to touch down at Perth Domestic Airport after the rules were relaxed on Thursday
With Western Australians also able to leave the state, the reopening is expected to have a negative net impact on tourism as more locals leave than visitors arrive.
‘[WA is one of the strongest, safest places to holiday in the world right now with one of the highest vaccination rates,’ Mr McGowan said.
‘We have an amazing story to tell and need to tell it loudly, proudly and positively to Australia and the rest of the world.’
About 5,000 people are expected to arrive in WA on the first day since the border opened.
The airport’s arrivals hall was buzzing with tearful reunions as the first arrivals from Sydney touched down just moments after midnight (3am AEST) on Qantas flight 653, reuniting families and friends.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese was among the first to land in Perth after quarantine-free travel into WA was permitted again from 12.01am on Thursday.
WA existed as a virtual hermit state, with businesses forced to close from a lack of tourists and foreign staff while families grieved a forced separation from loved ones in other states and abroad.
While there were some compassionate exemptions made within that time, they were very few and far between.
Passengers flying into Perth on Thursday morning were clearly emotional as they reunited with their loved ones on arrival
A mother hugs her daughter after she lands at Perth airport on Qantas flight number 653, the first domestic flight into Western Australia
Mr McGowan acknowledged the hard border greatly affected many people but insisted it was necessary in a lengthy post on ‘s Facebook page late on Wednesday night.
‘The hard border was never about politics, and it was definitely never about the silly notion of secession (from the rest of Australia),’ he wrote.
‘It was about the value we placed on the lives of Western Australians, and the lengths we were willing to go to in order to protect them.
‘It had been over a hundred years since Western Australia last had a hard border to keep out the Spanish Flu.
‘Putting one in place was not something I thought I would ever have to do as premier. It’s something I hope no Premier ever has to do again.’
WA was initially supposed to reopen on February 5 when vaccination rates in the state reached 90 per cent.
But this was stopped by Mr McGowan due to the outbreak of the Omicron strain of Covid-19.
Travellers will arrive on Thursday on 22 domestic flights and five international flights, with tens of thousands expected to follow in coming weeks.
Passengers reunite at Perth Domestic Airport. West Australian Premier Mark McGowan reopened the state’s borders from 12.01 am on Thursday
A West Australian police officer directs passengers as the first domestic flight into the state from Sydney arrived in the early hours of Thursday morning
Returning international passengers are greeted on arrival at the Perth International Airport Terminal on Thursday morning
West Australian Premier Mark McGowan (pictured) has defended his state’s almost two years-long hard border closure
Mr McGowan insisted WA’s reputation was not dented by 697 days of hardline border restrictions.
‘Our reputation will be as the safest jurisdiction in the world, that handled Covid the best in the world,’ he told reporters.
Mr McGowan said the approach had been further vindicated by new figures showing WA’s domestic economy grew by a nation-high 6.6 per cent last year.
But the premier faces growing backlash over strict ‘level two’ statewide public health restrictions that come into effect from Thursday.
Children as young as eight will be required to wear face masks in public, while home gatherings are limited to 10 people under rules expected to remain for at least a month.
A group of passengers walk out into the arrivals hall at Perth International Airport. The first international flights to land just after midnight were Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Swiss flights from Singapore
Though WA’s border reopens on Thursday, March 3, some new restrictions are being brought in at the same time. Pictured is a staff member pouring a drink in a bar while wearing a face mask
New capacity limits also threaten the viability of some larger hospitality venues and events, with live music venue Freo Social announcing it will close until the restrictions are lifted.
Artists such as Missy Higgins, Birds of Tokyo and Jimmy Barnes, have expressed doubts they can perform in WA due to capacity limits.
Legendary Australian rock band Midnight Oil have slammed Mr McGowan’s tough Covid rules.
In a statement, the band said: ‘Western Australia announced that outdoor concerts crowds are capped at only 500 people for at least the next 4 weeks.
Rock band Midnight Oil have slammed Western Australia’s concert capacity limit, which has led to them cancelling a concert in the state. Pictured is Midnight Oil singer Peter Garrett
‘As such our show at Nikola Estate on March 26, and basically every other big gig in WA this month, will not be able to proceed as planned.’
Mr McGowan on Wednesday announced a further $72million in compensation, including grants of up to $50,000 for businesses facing reduced turnover.
He acknowledged the new rules would not be tightly policed but said there had been high levels of compliance during the pandemic.
WA recorded 1,770 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday as the state prepares to both reopen its borders and implement tough new public health restrictions.
Sixteen people are in hospital but none are in intensive care. The state now has almost 7,000 active infections.
WA’s health system has moved to ‘red alert’ – the second highest level – reflecting widespread Covid-19 transmission.
Healthcare workers across all clinical areas will be required to wear N95 face masks, while there will be greater use of telehealth for outpatient services.
Fewer category two and three elective surgeries will be performed at both public and some larger private hospitals across the next month and there will be greater use of rapid antigen tests.
Public hospital visits will be further restricted, although exemptions may be granted on some family and compassionate grounds.
The only remaining level is black alert, indicating the system is at capacity.
Rehabilitation centre Shalom House meanwhile revealed it had entered lockdown after 74 positive cases were detected at the Swan Valley facility.
In a Facebook post, the centre indicated none of its cases was severely unwell.
Almost two-thirds of eligible West Australians have now received their third vaccine dose but the number is below 30 per cent for Indigenous people in regional areas.
Health staff will fly to the Kimberley, Pilbara, Midwest and Goldfields in coming weeks to bolster a vaccination drive in those regions.
Perth has just emerged from its hottest summer on record and WA is still grappling with a food supply crisis caused by flood damage to the rail link to South Australia and the east coast.
Western Australia is reopening its border at 12.01am on Thursday, March 3. Pictured is a shop in Perth
Mr McGowan’s Labor Party won a landslide victory in the WA state election a year ago, taking 53 out of 59 seats, in what was seen by many as a referendum on his handling of the pandemic.
But he was heavily criticised for cancelling the planned reopening of the state’s borders on February 5 with just 16 days notice.
Dr Omar Khorshid, the head of the Australian Medical Association, said the premier was a ‘one-trick pony’ and that delaying the reopening was a dangerous decision.
It led to a massive drop in Mr McGowan’s polling numbers, though he is still in positive territory.
His approval rating of 91 per cent in September 2020 dropped to 64 per cent by February 2022, according to the People’s Voice poll.
