CCIWA CEO

CHRIS RODWELL

CCIWA welcomes today’s release of the WA Government’s roadmap out of COVID restrictions and urges all unvaccinated Western Australians to sort their first dose tomorrow.

CCIWA has been calling for forward guidance on the reopening of the economy since June 2020. Though cautious, the roadmap provides a higher level of certainty for WA businesses to plan their operations and investments.

Crucially, the plan confirms that when WA reaches 80% double vaccination, a date will be nominated at which we will transition away from emergency restrictions. At this date, which will be based on when authorities expect to reach a 90% vaccination rate, vaccinated arrivals from interstate and overseas will not be required to quarantine. The plan also confirms that when the 90% threshold is reached, economic lockdowns will cease.

Now it’s game on.

The WA community and Government must do all it can to supercharge vaccination rates. CCIWA urges every Western Australian who wants to support local businesses to participate in the vaccination effort, including ‘super vax Saturday’ tomorrow. The fact is that every day for the next couple of months should be ‘super vax day’. Together, we can bring the open date forward by several weeks from the current forecast of late January. We especially urge younger West Australians to get their doses. Every day that passes is another day that local businesses continue to suffer from crippling skill shortages, disruptions to supply chains, and in which sectors like events and tourism are cut off from their customers.

CCIWA continues to urge the State Government to enable businesses to access much-needed skills sooner. In this context, the Chamber looks forward to working closely with the Government to advance a range of measures to ensure industry quickly and safely access the workers that they need. With WA behind other states in its reopening, its also vital that in coming years the Government sends strong signals and undertakes appropriate investment in tourism, transport and trade and investment.

As we approach the 90% threshold, we trust that any re-calibration of the plan, including ‘interim’ and ‘step-up’ measures, will be undertaken with the input of industry. The application of the PCR test for instance may dent our prospects of rebuilding our tourism and hospitality industry. Today’s plan is welcome and long-anticipated, and CCIWA looks forward to continued and productive work with the State Government to balance WA’s economic needs and risk.

 

Media contact: Thomas Adolph 0427 876 846