‘They’re on their knees’: Businesses need to know WA Government’s hard border plan, says Federal MP Melissa Price

Federal Member for Durack Melissa Price has used a federal parliament sitting to demand the WA Government release a plan for the opening of its hard borders. “In Western Australia we currently have all our borders closed, and I think most West Australians would agree that this is the current sensible approach,” she said. “But for those who are doing it tough, especially those very weary tourism operators … I urge the Western Australian State Government to set out clearly our State’s plan for the opening of the borders.” In Parliament on Monday, Ms Price said she feared tourism businesses in the North West would not survive the pandemic. “This is something that really deeply concerns me,” she said. “We know that the supply of backpackers has dried up in regional Western Australia, and West Australians simply do not want to take up those jobs in regional WA.” She said she had heard from businesses around the electorate experiencing challenging times and asked the WA Government to tell the community what health conditions that must be met and what the State’s hot spot strategy was. “They’re on their knees, they need you to tell them what is the plan,” she said.