McGowan and the WA Border
Cruel or necessary? On Friday the 21st of January, Mark McGowan, the premier of WA announced that the state’s borders would remain shut indefinitely due to the threat of the Omicron Variant. This sent shockwaves throughout the country, with many labelling the move as a ‘backflip’ or even a ‘betrayal’. Social media and news websites flowed with vitriol towards McGowan, labelling him as a cruel dictator. McGowan’s choice to delay the reopening of his state’s borders represents a significant deviation from the policies of other states across the country, who have all to varying extents, opened their interstate borders and committed to ‘living with the virus’. Predictably, ‘living with the virus’ has not delivered the expected results. Due to the high transition rate of the Omicron Variant, Australia has been struck with an unprecedented wave of
Words by Luka Krivokapic
COVID-19. The number of infections, hospitalisations, and deaths have broken records. Major supply chain failures have also occurred as a result of the sheer number of workers infected. Despite this, our state governments have refused to take significant action to combat the spread, with only basic restrictions such as reintroducing density caps. At the time of writing, Western Australia’s borders remain firmly shut. With 131 active cases as of the 27th of January, originating from an outbreak mere days after delaying the border reopening, McGowan’s stance remains firm, stating “This is a human tragedy and what our measures are designed to do … is to reduce the impact to Western Australians.” Even if this outbreak grows, having their border shut gives WA Health the best chance of supressing the outbreak and
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