WA coronavirus border closure to stay 'for months' as Mark McGowan rebuffs eastern states pressure

WA Premier Mark McGowan has told leaders in the eastern states "bad luck" while insisting WA's hard border closure will remain in place for "months to come".

It comes after Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said if COVID-19 continued to be successfully suppressed in Australia, states should relax their border controls. 

"If one or two states were to hold out then they will be answerable to their tourism industry and will ultimately need to provide additional support to that industry," he said.

But Mr McGowan said WA would not be succumbing to pressure from Canberra to lift its border closure.

"I know the New South Wales Premier is unhappy, I know Mr Birmingham is unhappy. But frankly, bad luck," he said.

"It might inconvenience the New South Wales Premier and some people from the eastern states, but frankly, I don't give a damn."

Public health the priority: Premier

WA closed its border in early April due to the coronavirus pandemic, although exemptions were put in place for essential services.

Mr McGowan said the hard border with the east would stay up for "as long as is necessary to protect the health of West Australians".

"Mr Birmingham can say what he likes. We're going to keep the borders in place for as long as is required," he said.

The Premier flagged that could mean the measure remained in place for months.

"Yes, I expect the borders with the east will stay up for months to come," he said.

WA Opposition echoes border calls

WA Opposition Leader Liza Harvey backed the calls from her eastern states colleagues, saying her preference was to open WA's interstate border now. 

"We shouldn't be cut off from … other states where there's no evidence of community spread of COVID-19," she said. 

"If we don't allow customers to get up to Exmouth, Coral Bay, Broome, I fear those businesses will be lost forever and those towns will have rising unemployment rates." 

Mr McGowan labelled Ms Harvey's call to lift the interstate border "grossly irresponsible".

"It's not the safe or right thing to do," he said.

WA Health Minister Roger Cook said the public health advice was the risk associated with lifting the interstate border was "very high". 

"It's the one thing which has most protected the West Australian community," he said. 

The state's regional border restrictions remain under daily review after being reduced from 10 to four this week.

"We're constantly reviewing to see what we can do to bring the [intrastate] borders down as soon as we can," Mr McGowan said.

"We want to get people travelling around Western Australia as soon as we can."

Mr Cook said the Government would be very careful in deciding how quickly and widely those final four boundaries would be lifted.

"We have to make sure that we can protect our vulnerable communities," he said. 

Second wave of job losses flagged

Latest Bureau of Statistics data has shown WA jobs fell by another 0.7 per cent in the week beginning April 25, with the biggest fall in professional services. 

Overall, jobs have fallen by 5.9 per cent since the pandemic took hold in mid-March, with the accommodation and food sectors taking the biggest hits. 

Mr McGowan said he was concerned about a second wave of mass job losses after the Federal Government's JobKeeper scheme expired. 

"That's why we've got our economy up as quickly as we can within the health advice," Mr McGowan said. 

The WA Government has brought forward a planned $150 million social housing project to help stimulate the construction industry amid the pandemic. 

Some elements of the project, including the refurbishment of 70 existing houses, will now begin within weeks.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the decision, saying the impact on the local industry would be significant. 

"[The WA housing industry] is under significant pressure such that we've never really seen before," HIA chief executive Cath Hart said.

"Obviously, that's been played out across the country, but what we know is that it will hit WA before anywhere else." 

Thousands complete COVID-19 safety plan

Mr McGowan also said more than 11,600 businesses had accessed the COVID-19 safety plan, according to the latest figures.

The plan has to be completed before business can reopen after phase two of eased COVID-19 restrictions came into effect on Monday.

"That's another sign that small businesses, cafes, restaurants are back to work and I think that's a great sign for the state," he said.

WA recorded no new cases of coronavirus overnight, leaving the total in the state at 557.

There are still three active cases, with one of those people in hospital.