Chris Rodwell

CCIWA CEO

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA supports the State Government’s decision today to introduce a lockdown for the Perth metro, Peel and South West regions until 6pm Friday 5 February.

This is a necessary and proportionate response to confirmation that a hotel quarantine worker spent time in the community with COVID-19, potentially with one of the highly transmissible UK variants of the virus. 

The first priority of Government and other decision-makers must be on keeping the community safe. As the situation evolves over coming days, it is important that the community fully supports West Australian businesses.

Our State has been very fortunate in recent months to live with great freedom. This has often meant many of us have observed less social distancing than in other States. Businesses in the accommodation, hospitality, arts, recreation, events and tourism industries will be particularly troubled by recent developments, as will those businesses that rely on the transport of goods across the Perth metro, Peel and South West regions. 

Ultimately, the best way that the WA community can help local businesses is to remain calm and to follow the directions of the State Government, which can be found at www.wa.gov.au.