QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce has doubled down on the comments he made comparing WA to North Korea over the state’s strict border rules.
Joyce made the original comment earlier this month on Nine Radio talkback show.
“In Western Australia, there isn’t a plan for when that is going to open up. It’s starting to look like North Korea,” he said at the time.
Now, the QANTAS CEO has told ABC that he stands by his comment.
“I said, ‘Unfortunately our country is divided, a bit like Korea is divided,'” he told the media outlet.
“And it feels like we have a part that is like North Korea, that is very restricted in parts of what the people can do in terms of travel.
“And I think that is the way people feel.”
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Western Australia currently has a strict border rule in place, requiring an exemption and hotel quarantine time for those wanting to enter the state – even people who are originally from WA.
WA was set to reopen its borders to international and interstate travellers on 5 February. However, after the highly contagious strain Omicron spread through the Eastern states of Australia, the WA premier Mark McGowan backflipped on the decision and kept the borders shut.
“From 12.01am on Saturday 5 February, the hard border will stay, with new settings that will have a focus on both safety and compassion,” McGowan said.
He added: “So far, the science shows that people with only two doses of a COVID vaccine have only a four per cent protection against being infected by the Omicron variant,” Mr McGowan said.
McGowan has mentioned that he wants the state to get to a stage where 80% or 90% of the population have booster shots, before he will open the borders.
“With a third dose, it can provide a 64 per cent protection against infection,” he said.
There is currently officially no date in place of when the state will open its borders, but an estimated date has been calculated.
For more on this topic, follow the Travel Observer.
