BOB’S BORDER CALL
THE nation’s top tourism boss says Australia must move towards progressively opening its borders to the rest of the world and “learn to live” with COVID-19.
Pressure is growing on the federal government to announce its plans for the reopening of international borders, something not expected to occur until mid-2022 at the earliest.
Despite a Newspoll showing 73 per cent of voters supported borders staying closed another year, Gold Coastbased Tourism Australia chairman Bob East said the country could not remain locked forever: “We do have to look at this pragmatically, because we are going to have to learn to live with this virus.
“We cannot afford to be too protectionist and I appreciate that while the vaccine rollout is in its early days here, we need to move the narrative along so that when the time is right we can have a sensible discussion about its management.
“We will watch other nations taking a methodical approach to their handling of COVID before setting about competing in a global market.”
Mr East is backed by the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) which is calling for the government to commit to a staged reopening.
TTF boss Margy Osmond said many tourism businesses would not last until mid-2022 without support.
“They may as well put up the white flag now because we will see more businesses close and the loss of more staff before we see the borders open,” she said. “There has been a lack of any real plan for when and what stages these openings may look like.
“There is a desperate need for the federal government and the National Cabinet to come up with a clear strategy for opening the borders because there is largely no hope for those businesses unless there is some sort of support, be it a wage subsidy or attractions package.”
Almost three in four voters surveyed via Newspoll said international borders should stay closed until at least the middle of 2022 and supported the government’s approach.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was unmoved on Monday, insisting it was “not safe” for Australia to turn the switch on its international border closure.
He rejected a growing push from MPs and business leaders to soon reopen the country, adding the next steps included fully vaccinated Australians being exempt from domestic restrictions and a return of international students and skilled migrants to assist workforce shortages.
“It is not safe to take those next steps right now,” he said “It’s not one day the borders are open, one day the borders are closed. That’s not how it works.
“There is a sliding sort of scale here, and we’re working on the next steps.”
Mr Morrison flagged Singapore as the country which would become Australia’s next potential travel bubble – after the skies recently opened both ways with New Zealand – and said he looked forward to further discussions with his Singapore counterparts.
Government and Opposition MPs, as well as former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth, have all called for greater clarity on borders.