Travellers from across the nation have arrived in Western Australia after the state's hard border eased for the first time in seven months.
Key points:
- There were as many 30 vehicles lined up at the SA/WA border for the opening
- Some travellers were arriving home or travelling to see family, others were visiting from interstate
- All states and territories except NSW and Victoria will no longer need a special reason to visit WA
About 30 vehicles lined up at the stroke of midnight at the border between WA and South Australia to cross when the state's tough COVID-19 border policy was significantly relaxed.
South Australians Steven and Kimberley Bounds and their two children were the first across the border shortly after midnight.
The family had been planning a trip around Australia for the past seven years and had never before visited WA.
"We thought we would try and see if we could be the first ones across," Mr Bounds said.
"Now we can get in and have a look at WA."
They were looking forward to visiting Esperance and the Margaret River region over the coming six weeks.
South Australians Carl and Rose Jakeway, second to cross the border, were looking forward to meeting their grandson after being knocked back for an exemption to travel into WA several times under the hard border policy.
"We have got a grandson we haven't met and the other grandkid is 2-years-old, so we are heading to see them," Mr Jakeway said.
"We are pretty excited."
West Australians Roger and Dianne Suck were relieved to be back on home soil for the first time since May.
They went to Cairns to meet their twin great grandsons and then found themselves locked out of home when they were ready to return.
"We got a pass to cross the border at Kununurra, drove all the way to Kununurra, and then some cop told us our reason for going home wasn't good enough," Mr Suck said.
"So then we came all the way down to South Australia and sat around here.
"We are really keen to get home to Bunbury, we both have health issues."
The Pullman family, from South Australia, left Adelaide in February for a holiday around Australia and had been trying to get into WA since the middle of the year to see family.
Mr Pullman said they were excited to be part of history by being one of the first cars across the border.
"We wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said.
But the kids were more excited about the novelty of staying up late.
"It's not every day you get to stay up past midnight!" they said from the backseat.
Border opened to all but Victoria and NSW
Under the controlled border rules, people from all states and territories except Victoria and New South Wales will no longer need a special reason to travel to WA and will not have to quarantine on arrival.
They will still need to make a declaration they are not unwell or symptomatic and have not travelled in New South Wales or Victoria in the previous 14 days.
Travellers will also need to register their travel arrangements on the state's G2G PASS app.
People from NSW and Victoria will be required to self-quarantine for a fortnight and take a coronavirus test on day 11.
As part of the changes, people who have not been granted an exemption to enter the state will find it easier to enter WA from states defined as "very low risk".
About 2,000 people were also expected to arrive at Perth airport this weekend to take advantage of the controlled border arrangements.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMibWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTExLTE0L3dhLWJvcmRlci1vcGVucy10cmF2ZWxsZXJzLXN0cmVhbS1vdmVyLXRoZS1ib3JkZXItY29yb25hdmlydXMvMTI4ODE1NDjSASdodHRwczovL2FtcC5hYmMubmV0LmF1L2FydGljbGUvMTI4ODE1NDg?oc=5
2020-11-13 20:29:00Z
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