Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is sure to ruffle some feathers with his latest comments about Western Australia…
In this post:
Qantas CEO makes North Korea comparison
Australia has taken one of the strictest approaches toward border closures during the pandemic, though those are finally starting to be eased. While the federal government controls international borders, the catch is that each state can make its own restrictions when it comes to travel. Some of the strictest regulations are in Western Australia, and Qantas’ boss had quite something to say about that.
In a radio interview with 3AW today, Joyce shared his frustrations about Western Australia’s continued border closures. Among other things, Joyce said:
- “You can’t even travel around your own country, it’s starting to look like North Korea”
- “We thought we had a date for that border to be opened, but that was stepped back from, it’s disappointed tens of thousands of people that had booked to go to WA”
- “I think we should all be a bit outraged by it, we’re supposed to be all Australians”
- “We should be getting on and living with Covid like we are in the eastern states today, the fact that we can travel to London but we can’t travel to Perth, I think there’s something fundamentally wrong with the federation if that’s happening”
What’s going on with Western Australia?
As mentioned above, while there are federal border policies, each state in Australia can set its own quarantine requirements for travelers, whether traveling domestically or internationally. This is tricky, because Australians can currently travel from Sydney to London and return without having to quarantine, while they can’t travel from Sydney to Perth without having to quarantine.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan promised several months back that once the state reaches a 90% vaccination rate, restrictions would be lifted. Now the state has reached a 90% vaccination rate, McGowan has backtracked, and will keep restrictions indefinitely. So not only is Western Australia closed off to most of the world, but it’s also closed off to the rest of Australia. McGowan stated that “it would be reckless and irresponsible to open up now and I will not do it.”
Obviously this has big implications for Qantas, Australia’s largest airline. This means that there’s very little demand for travel between Western Australia and the rest of Australia. On top of that, historically Qantas’ flights to London have operated out of Perth, but that’s not really possible until current restrictions are lifted. Until this changes, Qantas is operating its London flights out of Darwin rather than Perth.
Did Alan Joyce’s comments cross the line?
Joyce is getting quite a bit of backlash for his comments. Some are outraged, given that North Korea is of course known for horrible human rights violations. Many think the comparison was unfair because of that, and that’s reasonable enough.
At the same time, I think we can all agree this was an offhand comment, and that’s not what Joyce was suggesting. He wasn’t trying to say Western Australians are being murdered for speaking out against the government, but rather he was trying to point out that they’re “trapped” in their state, and rather isolated, just like in North Korea. And that part is… not untrue?
So yeah, he should have phased it differently or come up with a different comparison, but this is one way to make headlines. He wasn’t suggesting that the Western Australia Premier is a murderous dictator. I think New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet probably expressed himself a bit more diplomatically when he called Australia a “hermit kingdom.”
As an outsider I can’t make sense of Western Australia’s approach, and I say that as someone who is boosted and happy to wear a mask (I mention that because some people seem to think that someone who is anti-lockdown two years into this pandemic is anti-vax, anti-mask, etc.). If the intent is to keep borders closed forever then so be it, but if you ask me:
- Coronavirus almost certainly isn’t going anywhere, and there will be “waves” forever
- Initially restrictions were in place until people could be vaccinated, while now some people justify restrictions on account of giving people time to get boosted; y’all realize the boosters will be an ongoing thing, right?
- My general frustration with border restrictions at this point in the pandemic isn’t just about tourism, but about families being kept apart; the deaths from the pandemic aren’t the only toll
As I always say, of course each government can make its own restrictions that reflect the will of the people, rather than what I think makes sense. But this is my blog, and I share my opinions here, so…
Bottom line
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is frustrated by Western Australia’s continued border closures. The Premier promised that he would reopen borders once a 90% vaccination rate was achieved, but has now backtracked, claiming that would be irresponsible.
Understandably this is frustrating Qantas executives, not just given the impacts on domestic demand, but also given that Qantas has historically operated its London flight out of Perth. This has caused Joyce to compare Western Australia to North Korea.
What do you make of Joyce’s comments on Western Australia?
Once a prison colony always a prison colony
@ john cocktosin
Which is exactly what happened to the US. Only the US had the added role of being a dumping ground for the dross of French society as well (the original Lousiana was populated thus).
Alan Joyce won't allow people on planes unless fully vaxed same thing. Everyone including the non vaxed should have their freedom. Yes I am vaxed
@ Vince
But people in Australia have the freedom to chose whether they get vaccinated or not. But every choice has consequences. I assume you recognise this, which is why you decided to get vaccinated.
FYI it's not ultimately Alan Joyce's decision whether or not to carry unvaccinated passengers - rather a matter for the Australian (and other) national government(s).
Clearly the QANTAS guy seems to know very little about North Korea or Western Australia, but clearly knows a lot about hyperbole.
Obviously there is lack of unity within Federal and WA government in dealing with the opening the borders for Australian. The question is what’s WA trying to achieve by delaying it borders opening after 90 over percent fully vaccinated? Make no sense to me as every state have already been opening its borders.
@ Joe
But the national government (Prime Minister) has said he supports the decision of the WA Government.
The WA Government needs to account for low vaccination rates in highly vulnerable Indigenous communities (well below that 90% figure - somewhere n the mid 50s%) and the need to roll out booster shots to aged care (most deaths are in non boosted older folk).
Other states opened before they had done this and paid the price.
...@ Joe
But the national government (Prime Minister) has said he supports the decision of the WA Government.
The WA Government needs to account for low vaccination rates in highly vulnerable Indigenous communities (well below that 90% figure - somewhere n the mid 50s%) and the need to roll out booster shots to aged care (most deaths are in non boosted older folk).
Other states opened before they had done this and paid the price.
WA Government also needs to ensure that they are able to accommodate rise in hospitalisations, ICU admissions and set up efficient testing resources - the other states failed to do this (people queued many hours for mandatory PCR tests). Supply of Rapid Antigen Test has been problematic in the other states.
Ironically, the key issues of RAT supply and booster shots for aged care, disability care and vax for Indigenous is ultimately a national government failing.
Oh the lines been crossed, but not by Alan Joyce. Mass formation psychosis alive and in control in WA.
Ben,
Yesterday an article about Aotearoa/New Zealand not opening to tourism. Today and article about Western Australia not opening to tourism. Ostensibly asking for NZ and Australian reposnes but instead deluged with USA responses. You have mentioned that you have no desire to visit Australia and NZ anytime soon as have so many of your USA echo chamber , so why the articles?
Has travel for you become instead just about credit card promotions,...
Ben,
Yesterday an article about Aotearoa/New Zealand not opening to tourism. Today and article about Western Australia not opening to tourism. Ostensibly asking for NZ and Australian reposnes but instead deluged with USA responses. You have mentioned that you have no desire to visit Australia and NZ anytime soon as have so many of your USA echo chamber , so why the articles?
Has travel for you become instead just about credit card promotions, upgrades and points? Quite often your articles read word for word as Sebastian (the fat German guy with the midlife crisis) on Loyalty Lobby. LKots of people on both websites have said they are cancelling subscriptions because of this moving away from travel articles to the political. Alexa rankings prove your website is dropping. Take it or leave it. That's lost advertising. All for your political ideals.
Let's look at the culture of what's happening. IN the USA, in middle class suburbs, often you will see whole neighbourhoods without fences. No borders. Gardens and lawns right down to the street. You probably have come to see that as normal over the years. I'd suggest that people in USA don't much like borders and fences in "nice" neighbourhoods. (although there is a famous fence on the Mexico border) In the USA you have become used to a death rate that is the highest in the world per 100,000 people for a developed nation. It appears that USA is ok about high numbers of dead people more than other developed nations. Collateral damage. That's the culture in USA. So be it. Your home, your rules.
Other countries aren't comfortable with high death rates for a preventable virus disease. Open minded travellers would have seen over the years that other countries have all sorts of different responses to the USA. And that isn't to be ridiculed.
Coming back to the fences and borders... In both Australia and NZ, homes in neighbourhoods have fences.... It is really common that houses are screened from the street and each other. Borders and fences are something that is OK in those 2 countries . Travel used to be popular. Now it is about home improvement and family. That's the culture. Tough if you don't like it.
Coming back to the USA. The Atlantic just published an article examining what is a covid jerk in the USA...
"The boundaries of responsible behavior are less clear than they once were. I have a theory: Jerks are people who culpably fail to appreciate the intellectual and emotional perspectives of others around them. Let me unpack this a bit.
Jerks fail to appreciate others’ intellectual perspectives. Those who disagree, they see as idiots. They don’t recognize that their preferred opinions might be mistaken. They have no interest in exploring alternative views. Conversation aims at winning, or embarrassing another, or simply announcing the truth they know. Listening with an open mind is for other people."
It isn't surprising how often your articles and your echo chamber of USA repondents have labelled anyone with a different idea as "idiots". Then again, it happens all the time on Loyalty Lobby also.... Good luck in your echo chambers. But do check your Alexa ratings, and do take note of those who tell you why they are unsubscribing.
So to clarify you've just gone on a rant about Ben and most US citizens thinking X and lecturing on how wrong their perception ( as defined by yourself based on your perception of an entire countries seeming collective POV ) of how you perceive the entire US to feel and think. To then follow up with a quote about how those who don't listen or won't accept an opposing POV are the problem with...
So to clarify you've just gone on a rant about Ben and most US citizens thinking X and lecturing on how wrong their perception ( as defined by yourself based on your perception of an entire countries seeming collective POV ) of how you perceive the entire US to feel and think. To then follow up with a quote about how those who don't listen or won't accept an opposing POV are the problem with society in general whilst unironically being that exact person yourself.
Bloody top job on that one. Have you considered running for office at all? Your self assured superiority and total lack of self awareness whilst using mass generalisations to condem entire citizenships for not complying with your own POV makes you eminently qualified eh.
Also "check your Alexa ratings" as some kind of burn?! FML. You can get said figures from any website you own. Much more accurate and up to date and the mere fact you consider Alexa as a 'go to source' - enough said.
FYI it's not just the yanks who look on with genuine sorrow and a desire to see Nazstralia return to the once proud, democratic and free nation it was. It's always easier for those on the outside to see the abuser for who and what they are than it is for the abused to admit to their own situation ( a sad and tragic fact of life). And take the time to understand that this isn't slanting Aussies, it's a collective weep, compassion for fellow man to not be so trodden on( 100% yours isn't the only country taking the p**s but no one's beating old women, pepper spraying 12 yr old girls, or throwing pregnant mothers to the floor Infront of her kids at the level your police are ( if you're not aware such things are happening to your own people then maybe ask why - coz the videos are there to find).
All that said, whilst I agree with Joyce calling out WA leaders he can f**k off too as he's fine mandating jabs as a condition of carriage so he can't cry Commie when he's acted like one himself.
@ Clayton
Surely @philelltt is commenting on self evident truths. The US has endured a shameful rate of COVID deaths when compared to other countries. Remarkably, many in the US seem to accept this - some would be rightly ashamed.
The comments are mostly directed at the OP and correspondents (apparently American) herein. The conclusions are undeniable. Much of the commentary from US-based folk is hopelessly ignorant and just plain dumb.
Even when the reasons...
@ Clayton
Surely @philelltt is commenting on self evident truths. The US has endured a shameful rate of COVID deaths when compared to other countries. Remarkably, many in the US seem to accept this - some would be rightly ashamed.
The comments are mostly directed at the OP and correspondents (apparently American) herein. The conclusions are undeniable. Much of the commentary from US-based folk is hopelessly ignorant and just plain dumb.
Even when the reasons for health policy are explained to you (at great length and in great detail) you just ignore the information and continue to rant on like a stupid child. You offer no facts, figures, argued policy position. Many in Australia reading your post would regard you as a dumb American. Again, whether you are representative of your whole country is another matter.
It is unfortunate that @ Lucky strays from the normally excellent travel content to attempt commentary on another country that he has virtually no idea about.
Others, like a certain travel blog mentioned above, have also been prone to even more unfortunate commentary on Australia and other countries, which border on the racist and vindictive, apparently trying to justify the American and Swedish failures in managing the pandemic by attacking the excellent efforts of certain other counties.
If you are actually interested in any rational debate, actual facts and figures, critical analysis, basically any interaction dedicated on a modicum of intelligence - do let is know.
If not, I suggest you worry about your own country's manifest failings.
Thank you Ben for explaining to us what Alan Joyce really meant!! This is half the problem, woke people like you thinking you know what he meant to say? How do you know? Who are you to tell me what Alan Joyce was saying? Whatever happened to sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me. So leave your woke'ism in America where is started and get the hell out of...
Thank you Ben for explaining to us what Alan Joyce really meant!! This is half the problem, woke people like you thinking you know what he meant to say? How do you know? Who are you to tell me what Alan Joyce was saying? Whatever happened to sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me. So leave your woke'ism in America where is started and get the hell out of Australia's business.
Alan Joyce is right. Mark McGowan is a coward of the worst kind, a gutless wonder, a mongrel dog and a dictator like Kim Jong Un. He should be arrested and jailed for crimes against humanity. He is only doing what he is doing for one reason: There is an election coming up federally and the Federal Government of the day, a conservative Government needs to retain the seats in WA to hold power, otherwise we will end up the same basket case as you silly bastards in the USA.... and Canada, a bunch of radical left wing ideologues, wrecking the joint. So 3 cheers to Alan Joyce for saying it like it is. He's 100% correct.
You're totally wrong. Mark McGowan is a legend and will go down in history as one of the Greatest Leaders Western Australia has ever seen.
I am afraid that nobody outside Australia knows about Mark McSomething... It is extremely unlikely that he will be remembered : people go into history for achieving something, not for endlessly and pointlessly closing borders...
So blessed to have these opinion pieces by a travel blogger to really get into the detail and understand the nuances of these comments. Lucky - you need to keep these types of posts factual, you really don't know enough about the subjects. Look at the idiocy comments it generates - or is that the point?
This is a blog like you said, so what you could find here are Ben’s opinions.If you want “facts” watch the news. And if you are smart you would find that even news have bias. Otherwise you are one of those people that call “news” only to those you agree with.
@ robbo
So it must be very inconvenient to your political world view that the right wing PM, clot Morrison, of stroll out fame, who believes in miracles and hands on faith healing, has endorsed the decision of the WA Government to extend their border closures.
It is unfortunate that the right wing national government has squandered its political capital by wrecking the joint - a trillion dollar debt, higher taxes (relative to GDP), low...
@ robbo
So it must be very inconvenient to your political world view that the right wing PM, clot Morrison, of stroll out fame, who believes in miracles and hands on faith healing, has endorsed the decision of the WA Government to extend their border closures.
It is unfortunate that the right wing national government has squandered its political capital by wrecking the joint - a trillion dollar debt, higher taxes (relative to GDP), low investment in science and technology, a constant conga line of scandal ridden MPs, a political partnership with the devil (Barnababy and the muppets of the National Part, the detail of which is kept secret), an appalling attitude towards women, an absent position on the environment (memo to the right wing - even BHP has mordernised its sustainable development credentials leaving the antediluvian government behind), and most significantly, a government who has proved to be the most incompetent in modern times, a government whose utter inability to actually govern, make decisions, unite the nation under at the greatest challenge since WW2 was cruelly exposed by various state premiers (both Labor and Liberal) stepping up to get the job done. A government that would gladly dissemble Medicare in favour of private health, who would eagerly destroy people's high performing superannuation accounts (attacks on industry super funds) to line the profitable pockets of the big banks, who would delight in fully corporatising the university sector (we don't want poor kids to have an access to an education), who will ever find ways to divert funds away from state schools to private schools, from those in need to those who want a negatively geared property and cash credits on their share portfolio dividends.
And a government which refuses to be held to account for their actions by instituting an effective corruption commission, which dodges transparency at every turn and panders up to the big corporate end of town (the appalling Murdoch media empire, certain mining companies, banks, etc) to line its coffers, wherever possible avoiding the scrutiny of revealing the source of its political party cash revenues and trampling on the everyday, ordinary Australians who now have little protection when their employers shit all over them or don't pay them properly.
Utopia for the rich and privileged, and a drug for the dumb who mistakenly think that there are part of the club, when they are just being hosed and shown to be gullible fools.
Not surprised by this comment at all. As an Australian living in Thailand, Australia was one of 3 countries to lock out it’s citizens. These Covid decisions are political, based on the majority view, which makes you wonder about the intelligence of the public really?
@ Ziggy Einstein
No, Australia did not lock out its citizens. That is factually incorrect. They returned to Australia during the pandemic in their hundreds of thousands (600,000 plus). It has been estimated that the collective response to COVID saved 60,000 lives.
The majority view was one of community responsibility.
Currently, it is the aged people without boosters who's are dying from Omicron in the Eastern states of Australia. I defer opening borders until at...
@ Ziggy Einstein
No, Australia did not lock out its citizens. That is factually incorrect. They returned to Australia during the pandemic in their hundreds of thousands (600,000 plus). It has been estimated that the collective response to COVID saved 60,000 lives.
The majority view was one of community responsibility.
Currently, it is the aged people without boosters who's are dying from Omicron in the Eastern states of Australia. I defer opening borders until at risk peoples have had their booster shots is responsible health policy.
Australia didn't lock its citizens out at any point during the pandemic. We were locked in, but could always return (the Gov't did cap arrivals, but unlike NZ, Australia left it entirely down to the airlines to decide who could come back).
Others have pointed this out, but the situation is more complex than this post implies. Lets remember that Joyce's agenda is - quite rightly the health of the Qantas Group. McGowen, the Premier of Western Australia's agenda is the health of his residents. The two purposes do not necessarily align. McGowan is elected by Western Australians, and won the last pandemic election in a landslide. Joyce, clever though he is at running an airline is...
Others have pointed this out, but the situation is more complex than this post implies. Lets remember that Joyce's agenda is - quite rightly the health of the Qantas Group. McGowen, the Premier of Western Australia's agenda is the health of his residents. The two purposes do not necessarily align. McGowan is elected by Western Australians, and won the last pandemic election in a landslide. Joyce, clever though he is at running an airline is not responsible, or elected by residents in WA.
WA has an under-resourced, under-staffed health system not primed for the pandemic, and the huge state has many vulnerable remote indigenous and other communities, who are not vaccinated partially due to the false information being fed to them by right wing Christian evangelicals based in the USA.
Opening the borders of WA will have real health consequences for WA, for which they are ill prepared, both in a health infrastructure sense, and in a public perception sense. People will die when the borders are open, and that is too scary a possiblity for most West Australians.
Oh yeah let’s blame people in the USA for Western Australia not opening up. :rolleyes:
Not only that, this ignoramus doesn’t understand the fact that it reached 90% vaccination and it’s not the USA keeping them from opening up. Sometimes people need a knock on the head to put a screw back in the right position.
@ JBCH
Actually vaccination rates are effectively an average quoted for the whole state. In reality, vaccination rates are not distributed evenly. In richer city centre suburbs they can be higher than the average, and in remote communities and in those of Aboriginal descent living in cities much lower than the average (I'm seeing rates in the 50% or so being quoted).
Sometimes people need to spend one or two minutes self educating (it's very...
@ JBCH
Actually vaccination rates are effectively an average quoted for the whole state. In reality, vaccination rates are not distributed evenly. In richer city centre suburbs they can be higher than the average, and in remote communities and in those of Aboriginal descent living in cities much lower than the average (I'm seeing rates in the 50% or so being quoted).
Sometimes people need to spend one or two minutes self educating (it's very easy with your favourite search engine, assuming you haven't suffered from an unfortunate knock to he head).
https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-s-indigenous-vaccination-rate-the-worst-in-australia-20220117-p59osk.html
@ East2West
Actually, @2PAXfly is correct that one of the reasons that there is vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities in WA is the influence of anti-vax evangelicals ("partially due").
This has been reported in the local media on a number of occasions (you can easily Google such). As a general point, the anti-vax movement has been fuelled by white supremacists, religious types, and so forth (movements substantially derived from the US milieu).
Vaccination rates...
@ East2West
Actually, @2PAXfly is correct that one of the reasons that there is vaccine hesitancy in Indigenous communities in WA is the influence of anti-vax evangelicals ("partially due").
This has been reported in the local media on a number of occasions (you can easily Google such). As a general point, the anti-vax movement has been fuelled by white supremacists, religious types, and so forth (movements substantially derived from the US milieu).
Vaccination rates in the Indigenous are very significantly below the average - individuals tend to have underlying health issues making them more susceptible to the worse effects of the virus - health facilities in remote communities are extremely limited, hence the particular concern.
A responsible state government is required to consider the health and well being of these people in their health policy responses to COVID.
Ironically, the vaccination of Indigenous communities is primarily the responsibility of the national government (rather than the state), although the state and big companies operating in remote areas sep in to facilitate the vaccination roll put effort.
In the event that the WA state government defers border openings in deference to concerns about Indigenous health impacts, the federal government (PM Scott Morrison and his right wing clowns) would be to blame to some degree of another.
Alan Joyce doesn't have to consider these issues when trying to influence debate just to get his aircraft in the sky - but the Premier of WA certainly does - it is his responsibility to do such, if aspiring to competent governance.
Thank goodness I read this so I could learn "white supremacists" where an American invention. There was me thinking the origin of the term was founded on a certain European country who had a tendency to misbehave last century. Now I can safely assume "neo-nazis" are also a US invention.
Being adverse to a particular medical procedure or 'treatment' doesn't make a person an "anti-vaxxer" but the trope that one is the other is...
Thank goodness I read this so I could learn "white supremacists" where an American invention. There was me thinking the origin of the term was founded on a certain European country who had a tendency to misbehave last century. Now I can safely assume "neo-nazis" are also a US invention.
Being adverse to a particular medical procedure or 'treatment' doesn't make a person an "anti-vaxxer" but the trope that one is the other is such a grotesque narrative that any rational, self aware person would ask themselves "why are 50+ different governments from all sides of the political spectrum and systems of government using the same identical talking points to try and discredit those who exercise bodily autonomy"
If you'd like to know how many times thats ^ happened in history I'm happy to help you. None.
You're right though I guess. We should all stfu, take our 9th jab, make sure we get booster 13 coz that'll Def be the last one, honest, probably. Also we should agree that it's rude to ask why Steve hung himself. His death was for the greater good and if need be we can just add him to the "died with Covid" scareatron daily figure to help keep the masses compliant and turning on their friends and family for not doing as 'you' see fit. After all channel 7 told you what to think and that it was the right thing to think so anyone else is a conspiracy theory idiot and guilty of wrong think.
@ Clayton
You are very confused.
It's the current situation that is relevant (the role of white supremacists and evangelicals) in limiting efforts to raise vaccination rates in certain WA communities (the topic in hand). An historical comment was not being made. It's the here and now that is relevant.
Anti-vaxxer is exactly what they are. The issue at hand is vaccination against a virus (that is attributed with 900,000 deaths in the USA)....
@ Clayton
You are very confused.
It's the current situation that is relevant (the role of white supremacists and evangelicals) in limiting efforts to raise vaccination rates in certain WA communities (the topic in hand). An historical comment was not being made. It's the here and now that is relevant.
Anti-vaxxer is exactly what they are. The issue at hand is vaccination against a virus (that is attributed with 900,000 deaths in the USA). With appropriate vaccination rates countries can open their borders and we can all get travelling again. That said, the anti-vax movement has been co-opted by some to satisfy their deluded religious and racist causes.
In my house, we don't take our cue from some TV channel. We read the medical and scientific literature for ourselves, make an informed critical analysis, and make our choices (knowing that our choices have consequence for ourselves and others - such as the risk of infecting someone who is vulnerable).
Rational and self aware people accept the positive argument for vaccination. This accounts for the vast majority in Australia (very high 90 percents). Of course there are some fools on the fringe. These people can't face an issue head on, so they get distracted with stupid commentaries about government control, big Pharma, mass global indoctrination, and so forth, remarkably then denying that they are idiot conspiracy theorists.
Clayton, it's very simple. None of your drivel presents a cogent argument against vaccination (or the actions of the WA government for that matter) in medical or scientific, or rational terms.
I assume you would be begging for the meds, if you ever got seriously sick.
McGowan is worried about the state of WA's healthcare system. Google Ambulance Ramping, the entire issue has been that WA health is unable to cope even without COVID, and nothing has been done to resolve this issue over the last two years.
Meanwhile, the rest of Australia are now beginning to live our lives again, finally.
The Western Australian health system is clogged with malingerers. People love to think they're sick and present at ED's in large numbers simply for the attention of medical professionals. Flush out those malingerers and ambulance ramping would end immediately.
Australia should stay closed. The world hasn't missed them one bit.
Just the way we like it, but you'll still continue to buy our great mineral and agricultural wealth, so we'll continue to live our blessed lifestyle.
Founded on a penal colony and back to one...Australasia has become inconsequential let them drop off the map.
@ Nathan
Better learn your US history - the USA was also a penal colony and the south (Lousianna) a dumping ground for the dross of French society ...;)
And the USA is back to its own roots - more guns than people and killing each other at many times the homicide rate of of more civilised countries like Australia.
The world still needs our great mineral and agricultural wealth to survive. We are more than happy to sell our riches for the right price. Australia's resources are needed by most of the world to drive their own economies. Australia will never drop off the map. You need us!!
He should look at the terrible customer service that qantas offers before he throws stones.
Thought I better chime in. I am a West Australian and living in Perth at the moment and have throughout the whole Pandemic and up until one or two months ago I loved what McGowan was doing, keeping us safe, giving us time to get vaccinated and in the meantime no restrictions on masks gatherings anything etcand no deaths as no cases in the community but now we have a 90%+ vaccination rate its time...
Thought I better chime in. I am a West Australian and living in Perth at the moment and have throughout the whole Pandemic and up until one or two months ago I loved what McGowan was doing, keeping us safe, giving us time to get vaccinated and in the meantime no restrictions on masks gatherings anything etcand no deaths as no cases in the community but now we have a 90%+ vaccination rate its time to open up, not only did he backtrack on the February 5 date due to "omicron" but he also still won't open up even though we have cases in the community, masks have been made mandatory in in indoor public settings and there talks of shutting down nightcubs soon because we are recording roughly 20 cases a day for the past 2 weeks. So the "South Chinese premier' (as some west Australians colloquially call him) logic is flawed he doesn't want to open up to let omicron in - BUT its already here and its in the community so he may as well just open up, I definitely won't be voting for him in the next election.
20 cases a day that are already in isolation,so no community transmission. Close the night clubs. It's a weakness of mankind to want to be so connected that the virus uses to it's advantage in these settings. Mark McGowan gets my vote again. Keep the borders firmly closed.
Happy For you AJ, you just took away the Perth London flights without considering the effect on WA. Share the Pain now of a closed border.
QF1/2 and QF9/10 are operating as normal via DRW, the change has no impact on east coast travellers whatsoever.
Joyce ought to realise he created huge division in this country initially when he pushed for all passengers to be vaccinated. Do people not realise that a lot of unvaccinated Australians have children and grandchildren living overseas and due to Joyce's decisions they are now unable to leave Australua to visit them...he helped create our "North Korea"
@ Jane
Small problem. The vast majority of Australians have had the good sense to go and get their vaccinations.
Basically, only one or two people in every hundred are too dumb to get their vaccinations. So you are speaking for a very small minority.I
If you want to travel - you have to get vaccinated.
Consider that if you go to another country you will have to be vaccinated before they will let...
@ Jane
Small problem. The vast majority of Australians have had the good sense to go and get their vaccinations.
Basically, only one or two people in every hundred are too dumb to get their vaccinations. So you are speaking for a very small minority.I
If you want to travel - you have to get vaccinated.
Consider that if you go to another country you will have to be vaccinated before they will let you in.
Consider also that if you are not vaccinated and you go and visit your children or grandchildren who are not vaccinated, you risk infecting them with the virus.
In other words, you would be an utterly irresponsible person.
As an Aussie, I can confirm that Joyce isn't the only one comparing WA to North Korea. I've been saying the exact same thing for months.
Then get in your car and leave. Go and live in the Eastern States.
You're so right, I should get in my car and leave, and go live in the Eastern States. Oh hang on, I already do.
Then stay there and keep your comments regarding how we manage Western Australia to yourself. We are bleeding to live here.
Yes I agree. This comparison has been made more than a few times by myself and my international colleagues. But these decisions are political and made on the will of the majority. Nothing to do with health…
I think North Korea is a lite far but I agree that the following is wrong:-
1) going back on your word as PM on 5th Feb opening is wrong. Are you going to compensate people who incurred expenses on that promise. Nooo
2) the science dictates that it is impossible to fight Omicron with lockdowns. It can and should be managed with a sensible policy.
3) the mental issues on students...
I think North Korea is a lite far but I agree that the following is wrong:-
1) going back on your word as PM on 5th Feb opening is wrong. Are you going to compensate people who incurred expenses on that promise. Nooo
2) the science dictates that it is impossible to fight Omicron with lockdowns. It can and should be managed with a sensible policy.
3) the mental issues on students promised an opening on 5th Feb after a deferment on 1 year is a serious consequence of the PMs actions. Did he care???
If you don't like our rules and policies regarding COVID - then don't visit here.
Mark McGowan does care, that is why he has kept the borders closed.
@ Sporty 0254
1) not the PM's call - rather the state government - are you gong to compensate people whose relative died when you opened up the borders before aged and vulnerable folk have had their booster shots and before you have your testing facilities ready to go?
2) the data dictate the science - the data show lockdowns have worked for WA even for Omicron
3) not the PM's call - rather the...
@ Sporty 0254
1) not the PM's call - rather the state government - are you gong to compensate people whose relative died when you opened up the borders before aged and vulnerable folk have had their booster shots and before you have your testing facilities ready to go?
2) the data dictate the science - the data show lockdowns have worked for WA even for Omicron
3) not the PM's call - rather the state government - deferral in principally in recognition of the health care impacts of letting the virus rip
It's the WA Premier's (and state government's) job to deliver effective health care policy regardless of their emotional or personal opinions.
The PM as created two problems - slow roll out of boosters to aged, disability sectors and vulnerable people and access to Rapid testing to alleviate the huge queue and failures of the PCR testing systems
Much ignorance and lack of context and utter lack of any critical analysis in the original post and by most commentators herein.
Joyce is the CEO of an airline group - his public statements are designed to promote the revenue and profits of the Qantas Group and its airlines (Qantas and Jetstar). He is bemoaning having to cancel WA flights at a potential loss of some millions of dollars to the business, basically stirring up...
Much ignorance and lack of context and utter lack of any critical analysis in the original post and by most commentators herein.
Joyce is the CEO of an airline group - his public statements are designed to promote the revenue and profits of the Qantas Group and its airlines (Qantas and Jetstar). He is bemoaning having to cancel WA flights at a potential loss of some millions of dollars to the business, basically stirring up shit in his favour, although for some observers, the shit splashes back on him.
This is nothing new - he's been doing this for years. Wages negotiation coming up - go make public attacks on his staff. Arguably, some of it very calculated and nasty stuff (if you're a hard working airline employee).
Try calling QF without top elite status and you'll get an offshore call centre worker, not one of the excellent home-based agents based in Hobart, Tasmania. And that's after waiting for an hour or more (a standard set pre-pandemic).
What he doesn't mention is that QF Group has received an estimated AUD2 billion of Australian taxpayers money during the pandemic through JobKeeper payments to offset wages and special payments to the airline and tourism industries. These aren't loans - they are cash inputs. These payments have been made without requirement of national equity in the airline. Some would regard such hand outs as utterly irresponsible on the part of national government (noting some cash has also been unloaded by state governments) given the cash has been unloaded without a need for any repayment in profitable times or stock to repurchase from the government.
A pilot who works for JQ had informed me that even afterJobKeeper program ended, QF would get a subsidy from the government if she was stood down temporarily. QF was enjoying handouts that other businesses would not get.
QF sucked up the cash and when JobKeeper ended embarked on staff cuts, including transfer of 1000s jobs to an outsourcing model. You could take the position that the pandemic gifted the CEO an opportunity to streamline the operation in a manner that would have been difficult to achieve in times of "normal" operations.
A gentle reminder that for some months between the initial Alpha wave and more recent Omicron wave, Australian domestic aviation was enjoying absolute boom times.
Now Joyce gets to run an airline group, but doesn't have to face the responsibilities and challenges of a state premier in managing the state during a pandemic.
Yes, the state governments sought to open domestic borders and relax restrictions as vaccination rates hit various targets as originally outlined in a national plan against the Doherty Report mid year 2021. But then Omicron hit the eastern states.
The WA government now has to juggle health measures against hospital resources and other impacts of letting the virus rip. It has the luxury of learning from the experiences of the other states.
Omicron is more transmissible, but less deadly than Delta. That third booster shot has proven vitally important in helping to limit spread, restricting the disease to an asymptomatic or mild presentation in most and, crucially, in curbing mortality rates.
The lesson from the Eastern states are that:
- Once Omicron gets into the community, it's going to spread fast
- This has the potential to lead to elevated numbers of people in hospital
- Many of the deaths feature older people who have not had their booster shots
Now here's the curious impact nobody saw coming. Once in a local community Omicron spreads quickly - business are unable to operate or are operating on highly reduced basis because their employees are either off sick or are close contacts of those off sick and required to home isolate for 7 days. It has been reported that some business (e.g. tourism and hospitality) found it harder to survive than during the actual lock downs. Supply chains have been compromised.
In our local town, bars and restaurants, for example, had huge problems staffing their operation.
Consequently, governments had to relax definitions of close contact so supply chains could still run, hospitals be staffed and so forth. In NSW it was even decided to allow COVID positive tested staff to go to work.
Now the WA government can look at all of these issues and make a call. Which is exactly what it did.
Remarkably, this decision was applauded by Prime Minister just two days ago - bearing in mind the PM is from the contrary policy party (right wing Liberal-National rather than left of centre Labor).
Now the PM has a huge problem. Older folk in particular need their booster shots (these limit mortality and most of the mortality from Omicron is in aged people without boosters). This sits on the shoulders of the national government - it's the PM's gig, not that of the WA state government. Some take the position that the national government has blood on its hand for failing to manage the roll out of the booster shots, If that sounds familiar, it is - the national government already screwed up the original vaccine roll out - especially to the most needy in aged care and disability care. They didn't learn. The national Health Minister has even come out publicly blowing a smokescreen claiming many COVID deaths were for those already in palliative care.
The Pm has second huge problem - his government was once again asleep at the wheel when it came to arranging approval of and supply of Rapid Antigen tests (RATs) - being able to self test without waiting hours in queue for a PCR test that takes days to process.
The bottom line is that the devil is in the detail. The decision of the WA government makes sense when viewed in context.
Alan Joyce's remarks are in character for his personal style as an airline group CEO.
However, his actual comments don't stack against rational analysis.
Two immediate points about using incendiary nonsense like comparisons to North Korea - firstly, the state government is democratically elected and the recent state election held during the pandemic was a resounding endorsement by the people of WA for its health policy position - the opposition right wing was all but wiped out.
Secondly, the actions undertaken by the WA government are done so under certain state legislation. Their actions are open to legal challenge as a check and balance to limit their use of power of governance.
No doubt Omicron will hit WA sooner or later. One might expect the WA government to do what it can to prepare based upon the lessons of the eastern states (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, etc). Some of the news is good - for example hospitalisation rates in QLD currently are far less than the best case scenarios in the models. Some fo the news is bad - that booster shot is vital, especially for older and vulnerable people.
In other words, the vaccination rate target has simply moved on a step - fully vaccinated means boosted. I would expect WA to ensure their booster rates are high, especially in aged care and disability care in in front line medical and other workers.
The availability of RATs also potentially makes a huge difference. The testing systems in the Eastern states buckled under the stain of huge numbers of tests - people queued for hours just so they could get their negative test to go to work.
Without the apparatus and supply to undertake rapid testing in high numbers, the state would not be ready to open up.
1,245 words in an OMAAT comment.
Impressive. Most impressive.
Counting words in an OMAAT comment.
Impressive. Most impressive.
@ Eskimo
LOL..exactly what I was thinking...
Excellent response!
I’m assuming they just copy and pasted it to somewhere and got a word count. But damn that was a long post.
Lucky, it seems as if you are unaware that the vaccines stopped preventing transmission long ago. Even vaccinating 100% with these leaky vaccines is futile.
The main societal benefit of vaccines in the Omicron age is to minimize the duration of infections, thus relieving the burden on hospitals and reducing the chances of a nasty mutation.
Alan, not quite accurate. Vaccines decrease the severity of the disease, which means you are less likely to die if you get it. They also reduce the transmissibility of the virus. Some say by 50%, others think it is more than that. So, unlike resistance against the Borg, which is futule, vaccination is prudent.
@ Alan
The purpose of the vaccines was / is to:
1) Limit mortality (so fewer dead people)
2) Limit ICU admissions (so hospital ICUs not filled up with COVID patients)
3) Limit hospital admissions / duration in hospital (so hospital wards not filled up with COVID patients)
4) Limit symptomatic disease (people who catch the virus are less likely to suffer from discomfort)
5) Limit viral transmission (less people catch...
@ Alan
The purpose of the vaccines was / is to:
1) Limit mortality (so fewer dead people)
2) Limit ICU admissions (so hospital ICUs not filled up with COVID patients)
3) Limit hospital admissions / duration in hospital (so hospital wards not filled up with COVID patients)
4) Limit symptomatic disease (people who catch the virus are less likely to suffer from discomfort)
5) Limit viral transmission (less people catch the virus non the first place)
One might add downstream benefits such as less people end up with long tern COVID symptoms.
Break out infections can and do occur. Bit that doesn't mean that the vaccines haven't made a highly significant contribution in the battle against the virus.
The booster shot is effective in preventing need for urgent care in 94% of COVID cases according to recent CDC data.
We are utterly blessed to live in Western Australia and have Mark McGowan as our Leader. Western Australia is the power house of the Australian economy with our great mineral resources and wealth. Qantas has made a fortune with internal flights and within the mining sector. The majority of residents support the closed borders to protect our lifestyle. As for so called food shortages this has been caused by a once in a 200 year...
We are utterly blessed to live in Western Australia and have Mark McGowan as our Leader. Western Australia is the power house of the Australian economy with our great mineral resources and wealth. Qantas has made a fortune with internal flights and within the mining sector. The majority of residents support the closed borders to protect our lifestyle. As for so called food shortages this has been caused by a once in a 200 year flood washing out tracks in South Australia. Repairs we'll under way now. If you don't like living in Western Australia then LEAVE so we can continue to enjoy our blessed lifestyle.
You sound like you're in a cult when you do things like capitalizing the word "Leader" and talk about a "blessed lifestyle". Or maybe this is Poe's Law?
@Watson
More likely the @AA56 has dumbed down the narrative to suit the audience. Some herein clearly don't understand what is meant by a State Premier - one post confuses Prime Minister with State Premier and yet another uses the term Governor instead. Many herein can't distinguish between a totalitarian state and a democracy. Expecting satirical subtleties is surely over expectant?
Western Australia has a great Leader in Mark McGowan and we are utterly blessed to live in Western Australia. Nothing to do with being in a cult, just a proud West Australian.
AA56 I wouldn’t take it too personal. It’s just people making critical comments about a government on a travel blog.
@East2West
Thanks. I don't take it personally.
A few more prominent CEO's should speak up as Alan Joyce did. Mark McClown is a bloody nightmare.
McGowan should be ousted....not negotiable
Alan Joyce for nearly two years was supporting the governments border closures. Unlike other airlines that kept flying to Australia, he stopped Qantas flying for two years. And got jealous at other airlines flying, so he pushed the government to introduce flight caps.
His actions kept many Australians stranded abroad. He is a hypocrite and can’t be trusted.
People get the leaders they deserve.
Joyce also conveniently forgets that he was the main Aussie cheerleader for lockdowns and vaccines...so he is getting exactly what he desired.
Qantas CEO comments are 100% correct
WA premier should be sacked, sounds like a dictator grandstanding for free more TV time.
I can’t travel freely back to my home state fully vaccinated without quarantine period, it’s ridiculous
Covid is going nowhere forever!
@Wayne Dodd
WA Government will need to consider booster rates - it's not just a case of being "fully vaccinated" with two doses anymore.
The Australians, like those of us in the US, need to start paying more attention to the people we elect to public office. It's far time we reminded these people who serves who, where they derive their authority from.
There was an election last year. The state premier won 53 seats the other two parties won a combined total of 5 seats. Clearly people support what he is doing. The rest of Australia obviously doesn’t.
@ David
Well, yes, then maybe those of you in the US should worry about your democracy and elections and we'll worry about ours, noting US democracy has recently teetered on the brink of collapse.
Western Australia's restrictions are actually much worse than those in North Korea.
If you don't like the comparison, then stop acting like authoritarians. Oh and btw, John's Hopkins study basically shows lockdowns did nothing to stop the spread once the virus is in the country, so it's all pain for no gain. Google it because the MSM are treating that story like the hunter Biden laptop...an inconvenient truth.
@ Another Lump
Oh and btw, the study you refer to has nothing to do with Australia or WA. It does not include data from such, which prove that lock downs did work for Alpha and Delta. The key to controlling the impact of Omicron is three-dose vaccination.
This is the age we live in, where context is never considered when interpreting words/statements. Not sure why the CEO is being criticized for the comparison - of course he was simply referring to the restricted movement which is impacting his bottom line.
About folks comparing reasonable quarantine/vaccine/mask mandates to attack on freedom, authoritarian regimes, have never lived in one so have no idea what living in one feels like. They are so entitled that...
This is the age we live in, where context is never considered when interpreting words/statements. Not sure why the CEO is being criticized for the comparison - of course he was simply referring to the restricted movement which is impacting his bottom line.
About folks comparing reasonable quarantine/vaccine/mask mandates to attack on freedom, authoritarian regimes, have never lived in one so have no idea what living in one feels like. They are so entitled that they can’t differentiate between inconvenience and dictatorship. Speaks more about their upbringing, values and mentality than anything else.
Didn't Australia have limit of 5km on how far you could go for essential activities? That's pretty totalitarian.
That was only us in Melbourne.
If you don't know maybe you shouldn't have an opinion on the subject?
Western Australia is bordering on a totalitarian state without basis in science or logic. To indefinitely ruin people's lives and humanity from a little pulpit in Perth is sad at best, and inhumane at worst. End every restriction immediately, even Johns Hopkins says lockdowns did nothing...
and what sad is Will that the people cheer for this totalitarian state. Just look at the comments on the Facebook page of the governor or under the articles of local news outlets. Most of them are like "thank you for keeping us safe" or "we have a normal life here". Crazy
@ PeterCS
Yes, it's utterly crazy to think that people were kept safe and enjoyed a normal life throughout most of the pandemic where so many died in other countries. It's unbelievable to imagine that people would be smart to recognise such when their freedoms to infect and indirectly kill others have been stymied.
Yes, and it's sad that those living overseas (presumably in the USA since you refer to a governor not a state...
@ PeterCS
Yes, it's utterly crazy to think that people were kept safe and enjoyed a normal life throughout most of the pandemic where so many died in other countries. It's unbelievable to imagine that people would be smart to recognise such when their freedoms to infect and indirectly kill others have been stymied.
Yes, and it's sad that those living overseas (presumably in the USA since you refer to a governor not a state premier) continue to display in their utter ignorance of another country's handling of the pandemic. Bless.
@ Will
Your quoted study said nothing about WA or Australia, where lockdowns did and have worked extremely effectively. To claim otherwise is purely delusional. To suggest WA is a totalitarian state is ridiculous - there are democratic elections, separation or powers and checks and balances set in place.
I would hazard a guess you have little grasp of science or logic.
I'm surprised at the commenters' candor since 12 posts in there still isn't a "BeTtEr ThAn FlOrIdA" deflection.
조선,만새,만새,만새!
Australians have endured enough. I live in the USA where state's closing off borders would be next to impossible to enforce. The tri-state area of the Greater metropolitan New York City area has done so for a short period of time however it was not strictly enforced. My relatives in Australia are reeling. Sorry. You have my sympathies.
@ Cody
You can save your sympathies for your 900,000 COVID dead. You do realise that with the exception of WA Australia is largely opened up?
Certainly the comment was intended to generate publicity for the situation, and it succeeded. Obviously it's difficult to understand from an American perspective, because -- like it or not -- our constitution expressly forbids impediments to interstate travel. Free movement is key to our understanding of what makes us the "united" states. I have no idea exactly how the Australian federation is set up from a constitutional perspective, but it does seem daft that one...
Certainly the comment was intended to generate publicity for the situation, and it succeeded. Obviously it's difficult to understand from an American perspective, because -- like it or not -- our constitution expressly forbids impediments to interstate travel. Free movement is key to our understanding of what makes us the "united" states. I have no idea exactly how the Australian federation is set up from a constitutional perspective, but it does seem daft that one could more easily travel to a foreign country than another state. That said, my understanding is that WA is still a democracy, so clearly the premier feels he is responding to the wishes of a majority of his constituents.
Currently stuck in Western Australia and I can tell you I miss living in the US. My wife (a US citizen) also can't believe how authoritarian it is here. We're in the process of leaving though because we've had enough!
@ Dennis
You're not stuck. You can leave.
Bye. Don't look back. We will not miss you.
Section 92 of the Australian constitution says that "trade, commerce, and intercourse among the states ... shall be absolutely free." But I guess pandemic closures are an exception?
Free intercourse? I may have to rethink my travel plans.
US has/had a very similar situation as Western Australia, with Hawaii. You cannot / could not freely travel within the USA to Hawaii without a quarantine. So constitution goes out the window.
As someone from Sydney currently on holiday in Turkey (having visited Prague, Budapest and Doha in the last few weeks) all I can say is WA voted for this muppet and if they want to stay locked down, no big loss for us East Coasters.
Once the iron ore price falls and when enough businesses pull their staff out of WA Emperor McGowan will be begging for East Coasters to come and holiday in Perth.
100% agree with the last part of your comment about it all changing when the iron ore price drops (or if the mines start to struggle in general). But I am one of the few West Australians that did not vote for McClown and currently I'm stuck! So have a heart for us few victims! Having said that, I'm going overseas next month. I'm done with this state. NSW and Victoria are way ahead of...
100% agree with the last part of your comment about it all changing when the iron ore price drops (or if the mines start to struggle in general). But I am one of the few West Australians that did not vote for McClown and currently I'm stuck! So have a heart for us few victims! Having said that, I'm going overseas next month. I'm done with this state. NSW and Victoria are way ahead of WA in terms of movement back to civilisation and I want to be back to reality as well!
Well put- elections have consequences
North Korea is much colder this time of year.
Likely the reason for needing advance nuclear technology. So the heaters would work better in the cold.
I unfortunately live in Western Australia and Alan Joyce has hit the nail the head. In fact, this is exactly what I've been saying all along. Yes that's right, we need a "permit" to go anywhere (if approved). Internally too, things are bad:
- food shortages in stores (because most food comes from the eastern states)
- "unvaxxed" are now not allowed almost anywhere. They can't even buy alcohol.
- police arrest...
I unfortunately live in Western Australia and Alan Joyce has hit the nail the head. In fact, this is exactly what I've been saying all along. Yes that's right, we need a "permit" to go anywhere (if approved). Internally too, things are bad:
- food shortages in stores (because most food comes from the eastern states)
- "unvaxxed" are now not allowed almost anywhere. They can't even buy alcohol.
- police arrest and silence any kind of criticism or protest.
- yesterday, police stormed a church, stopping the service and checking mask compliance.
So aside from the lockout from everywhere, it definitely feels like North Korea in daily life.
It’s funny how people who has never been to North Korea compared their situation to North Korea. In DPRK you can still get alcohol like taedonggang mekju and vaccination is not mandatory.
I don’t have to bring my vaccination card to DPRK to get alcohol? I’m sold!
Nope. Contrary to popular beliefs, DPRK and China did not make vaccines mandatory.
I too am in disagreeance with McGowan not opening the borders but sorry, internally it is fine, the food shortages are mainly because the main rail link connecting WA and SA has flooded (nothing to do with covid), police do not arrest and silence any protest, don't know about that church thing but if that is true they probably did it after what happened with Hillsong in NSW and finally the vaccination proof is strict...
I too am in disagreeance with McGowan not opening the borders but sorry, internally it is fine, the food shortages are mainly because the main rail link connecting WA and SA has flooded (nothing to do with covid), police do not arrest and silence any protest, don't know about that church thing but if that is true they probably did it after what happened with Hillsong in NSW and finally the vaccination proof is strict but almost everyone is vaccinated and if your not vaccinated that's your fault and you can still get vaccinated
He’s right. End the lockdowns. End the masks. End the vax requirements. They’re all failures. At this point there’s only two types of people. Those who’ve gotten it and those who will. Time to face reality. End the madness!!!
Your right. None of this has or will ever work. COVID 19 is not a life threatening situation for 99.5% of the population. Time to end all of this because it has zero, nada, zilch, zip to do with "science and health" and everything to do with control and benefiting certain groups (big pharma at the top).
@ James
Alan Joyce is commenting on border restrictions, not masks, or vaccinations.
At this point there continue to be two types of people - responsible and deluded.
The virus will much more easily search out those of you stupid enough to avoid vaccination and irresponsible enough to refuse to undertake basic steps to protect yourself and others.
You can't save folk determined to abject ignorance.
Joyce's comments were over the top, but to be fair he was talking about border restrictions not general freedoms within WA, which has been mostly living like it's 2019 internally the whole time. And of course he's talking about the airline's commercial interests, nothing more nor less.
WA policies are generally popular there, where most people don't have eastern states or overseas relatives and friends they miss seeing. Still, living in their gilded cage will...
Joyce's comments were over the top, but to be fair he was talking about border restrictions not general freedoms within WA, which has been mostly living like it's 2019 internally the whole time. And of course he's talking about the airline's commercial interests, nothing more nor less.
WA policies are generally popular there, where most people don't have eastern states or overseas relatives and friends they miss seeing. Still, living in their gilded cage will wear thin soon enough even for them.
The CEO of Qantas venting won't move the dial in the West, but the inevitability of Omicron arriving and spreading will eventually force the Premier's hand and the borders will open.