Alongside thousands of businesses, CCIWA celebrates today’s reopening of Western Australia’s borders.

The reopening to the world brings with it new hope for those businesses that rely on the movement of people into and out of our State, especially those in the tourism, hospitality, events, entertainment and international education sectors.

The State Government’s announcement of a $12 million Wander out Yonder “marketing blitz” is therefore welcome news for many businesses in those sectors.

WA businesses can now directly engage with customers, partners, investors and workers around Australia and the world, putting them on a more even footing with competitors outside the State.

We can now look forward to an easing of our chronic worker shortages, which are impeding the growth of four in every five businesses.

An open border also means more passenger aircraft flights, an important component of supply chain movements.

Western Australia’s reopening comes after a period of prolonged uncertainty, acute costs and false starts.

From today, however, we will only look forward.

That said, it’s critical that WA strongly signals to the world that the era of unpredictable border closures, snap lockdowns and uncertainty are behind us.

Doing so will ensure we have the best opportunity to attract the world’s best and brightest talent, as well as the international investment we desperately need to further diversify our economy.

CCIWA thanks the WA business community for its resilience during the era of border restrictions, and acknowledges the Government for introducing measures to ease the impacts we have all faced over the past two years.

Together we will continue working to rebuild and renew Western Australia’s outward-looking, globally-focused mindset; to diversify our economy and build the next phase of our state’s prosperity.

CCIWA’s COVID-19 site has up-to-date information about the pandemic’s impacts on WA business.