As the rest of Australia reopens to interstate and international travellers, the Western Australian government has just halved the weekly cap on the number of people allowed to arrive from overseas to only 265 people per week.
Currently, WA is only accepting 530 people arriving from overseas each week, who must enter 14 days of hotel quarantine after landing in Perth. But from 23 December 2021, WA’s international arrival cap will be halved yet again to 265. That’s less than the number of seats on a single Airbus A330 or Boeing 777.
The WA government says that halving the arrivals cap will ensure there is sufficient capacity in the state’s hotel quarantine system after NSW was reclassified from a “high risk” to an “extreme risk” state. The state government also wants to ensure it can maintain heightened safety measures in its quarantine hotels to guard against the “heightened Omicron risk”.
“Anyone else approved to travel within the limited ‘extreme risk’ rules will be undertaking 14 days of hotel quarantine to better protect WA, and this is why it’s important we keep capacity in our hotel quarantine system and why we are halving the international arrivals cap,” WA Premier Mark McGowan said.
“This is not a situation to take lightly and it is necessary because my priority is the health of Western Australians first and foremost.”
WA Health Minister Roger Cook said that the state’s border controls work and can be adjusted to better protect WA.
“We cannot be complacent and it’s important everyone follows the health advice and takes every precaution we can to keep WA safe,” Mr Cook said.
Currently, Tasmanians are the only people allowed to enter WA without having to isolate or enter quarantine for two weeks. However, this could change if Tasmania starts to record new COVID-19 cases.
Travellers from Queensland and Northern Territory may currently enter WA, but have to self-isolate for two weeks. Travel from other states and territories is not permitted without a G2G Pass exemption.
Not in the national plan
Western Australia recently reached an 80% double vaccination rate. Under the National Cabinet’s “four-phase plan” announced back in June, states were supposed to abolish international arrival caps once they achieved this milestone – as most other states have done. But Western Australia deviated from the national plan some time ago.
The WA government announced on Monday that it now plans to reopen its border to interstate and international travel on 5 February 2022. From this date, travellers will no longer be required to quarantine in Western Australia but will need to show proof of vaccination and get multiple COVID-19 tests before and after arrival.
“That transition date is locked in – and is based on our expert public health advice,” Mr McGowan said on Monday.
The reduced cap of 265 international arrivals per week into WA is expected to be in place from 23 December 2021 until 4 February 2022.
The rest of the country is easing border restrictions
While WA makes it more difficult for its residents to return home from overseas, every other Australian state and territory has eased border restrictions.
NSW, Victoria and the ACT reopened to quarantine-free international travel on 1 November 2021. While these states and territories have since added a requirement to self-isolate for 3 days after arrival due to concerns about the Omicron variant, they have now dropped the temporary requirement for people returning from southern Africa to enter 14 days of hotel quarantine.
South Australia, Queensland and, from today, Tasmania have also now removed all caps on overseas arrivals – although some states still require people who have been overseas during the past fortnight to self-isolate at home.
The Northern Territory will reopen to an uncapped number of interstate and international arrivals from next Monday 20 December, just in time for Christmas.
This makes Western Australia very much the odd one out. While all other states and territories are making it easier for their citizens to reconnect with loved ones for Christmas, WA has just reduced the already-low number of people who will be allowed in from next week.
Hundreds of airline passengers booked on international flights to Perth over the coming weeks will now inevitably have their tickets cancelled. Anyone who hasn’t yet booked a ticket to Perth from overseas will likely be out of luck until February next year, unless they can find a way to travel to WA after spending at least two weeks in another Australian state or territory.
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