CCIWA CEO

Chris Rodwell

CCIWA strongly welcomes the State Government’s commitment to ease emergency travel restrictions on 5th February 2022.

This clarity is something CCIWA has worked towards on behalf of WA businesses and the economy since June 2020. The clarification of a date will begin to ease the uncertainty, supply chain delays, higher costs and chronic worker shortages experienced by WA businesses and the economy during this pandemic.

Lockdowns will only be used in a highly targeted way and broad-scale lockdowns will no longer be used. This is a significant commitment which CCIWA strongly welcomes.

Vaccinated travellers who return negative COVID-19 results will be able to travel without quarantine, which is also significant to the WA business community.

We note the Premier’s determination to open on 5th February whether or not the 90% threshold is met, which reduces uncertainty for businesses and households and better enables investment and business planning.

The vast majority of WA businesses and households have played their part by getting vaccinated. We urge Western Australians to continue to be vaccinated, which is critical to support the health of our people and our economy.

We will work with our members to manage the transition, which will include proof of vaccination requirements, the maintenance of health records, and masks in certain venues. The Chamber looks forward to working closely with the Government to advance this plan, and important initiatives like the WA Jobs Taskforce and Reconnect WA. Our State will need to continuously improve conditions for diversification, the restoration of impacted industries and strongly signal the reopening of our economy.