"While details of the High Court decision on WA borders are yet to be published, the finding that Western Australia’s Quarantine Directions do not raise constitutional questions, should not be seen as a green light to keep internal borders closed or restricted longer than necessary," Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association Ai Group said today.
"Open borders are vital to economic resilience and all the benefits that come with the free movement of people, goods and services and Ai Group welcomes the recent announcement by the WA State Government to move to a “controlled border” with the majority of states and territories from the 14th of November.
"When virus cases are at manageable levels and states and territories are confident in their testing and tracing systems, they should open their borders as soon as possible.
"Opening Melbourne up to New Zealand while our own states remain closed or restricted to each other is welcome but difficult to fathom. It is an example of the confused patchwork of restrictions that persist, sometimes unnecessarily, in our federation.
"We look forward to the publication of the reasons behind the High Court ruling as well as further easing of border restrictions in the near future," Mr Willox said.
Media Enquiries: Tony Melville - 0419 190 347
