A newly arrived Australian from overseas has begged Mark McGowan to open the WA border so he can see his sick mum.
A clearly emotional Ethan Carter, who arrived in Sydney on Monday morning aboard QF12 - one of the first flights to welcome back overseas travellers into Australia - said his mum was on the verge of death.
He said he had been trying for the past two years to get to WA to see her.
“I’m really scared and emotional because I really want to see my mum as she’s not well,” Mr Carter told Sunrise as tears started to flow.
“The doctor says she hasn’t got long and I just have to do everything I can to get to WA.
“I love her so much and I just want to get there. I love her heaps and I can’t wait to see her.
“I can’t see her today because that’s not the law but I’ve got to do what I can.
“She’s been in permanent care for a few years and it’s been so long since I’ve seen her and I love her heaps and I just want to get back there.”
Mr Carter said it was time for the WA Premier to consider the suffering of those locked out of the State.
“Mark, think of the people that are suffering ... like mentally to see their family, that’s also a health issue,” he pleaded.
“We know we’ve got to protect lives but you’ve got to bring families together again, you have to ... everybody needs to be together, it’s so important.
“We respect that you’re trying to be safe but everyone needs to be together. Please ... please!”
Vaccine Commander Chris Dawson said he was aware of the Mr Carter’s case.
“We will make an assessment if he makes an application,” he said.
“We’ve had thousands of people who’ve been able to return under extreme situations for matters such as you know, if someone is palpably unwell.
“They’re very tragic situations. But the Chief Health Officer and I make assessments on any such applications.”
Premier Mark McGowan conceded that the situation was “very sad and difficult.”
“We’ve seen much of this over the course of last two years,” he said.
“So the police and the Chief Health Officer will analyse his case if he makes an application.”
Mr McGowan insisted that border controls minimised WA’s chance of an outbreak and allowed the State to have a “soft-landing” out of the pandemic.
Australia’s ban on overseas travel has been one of the strictest in the world but the international border has now opened in NSW, which has reached 87.5 per cent full vaccination, after 18 months.
But travel to other States from Sydney is still mostly restricted.
WA has some of the tightest restrictions in Australia, with its hard border staying firm.
While NSW cases have been coming down - it recorded 135 infections on Monday - Mr McGowan continues to classify NSW as an “extreme risk” State.
He said the Government did not want to take the risk of relaxing travel restrictions and letting COVID in, especially with overseas travellers now flying in to NSW.
WA does not expect to hit 80 per cent full vaccination until Christmas.
“It could mean that under NSW’s arrangements, if we drop them to what’s called ‘high’, people could go out of NSW overseas, come back into NSW without quarantining and then demand to come back to WA,” Mr McGowan said.
“This is the quandary we are in. “We don’t want to encourage that because all it will mean is we get spread of the virus before such time as we have high enough levels of vaccination.”
Interstate travellers from medium (ACT), high or extreme risk jurisdictions (Victoria and NSW) are strictly banned from entering WA, regardless of their vaccination status.
Residents from States classified as “extreme risk” are unable to enter WA even on compassionate grounds.
Approved travellers entering from the ACT, NSW and Victoria also need to be fully-vaccinated and go into 14-day quarantine.
Travellers from the “very low” risk jurisdictions of the NT, SA, Tasmania and Queensland can travel into WA with no vaccination or quarantine measures.
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2021-11-01 00:27:00Z
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