Mark McGowan urges Scott Morrison to keep Australia’s international border closed until vaccine exists

Mark McGowan says he does not want the international border to be opened until "we are very very sure", admitting he couldn't see travel to Bali "being an option until there's a vaccine". In a special one-on-one edition of Channel Seven's Flashpoint tonight, the Premier reiterated his hard-stance on Australia's border, telling Scott Morrison not to open the country back up until a COVID-19 vaccine exists. "I'm very very careful about the international borders," Mr McGowan said. "I don’t want us to open international borders until we are very very sure. "(They) are the biggest threat. So … internationally I just say to the Commonwealth Government: 'do not open up the international borders until such time that it's safe, and that would mean a vaccine'." "I just can't see Bali being an option until there's a vaccine. "We're just going to be very conservative about any countries overseas, and very very careful. "And if the Commonwealth does anything rash and has flight bubbles and bubbles with the Eastern States, we won’t hesitate to put up a hard border again if we have to because I just do not want us to run any risks during this period because we've done so well — let's not wreck it at the last minute." Mr McGowan conceded we would be "in for a long road" if a vaccine was not developed. He praised West Aussies for taking 2020 and all the hardships, restrictive measures and consistent changes in their stride, saying the State's unwavering positive attitude had been the "most happy thing" he experienced this year. "West Australians have come on the journey and been absolutely terrific about it," he said. Speaking on WA's controlled border, set to kick in on November 14, Mr McGowan said WA was "ready to go" if there was another COVID-19 outbreak over East. "You don't want to have an outbreak, that's why we're very conservative with our borders. If we do have an outbreak we have the systems in place ready to go," he said, adding that if any of the states had a significant outbreak, WA would probably have to put in new restrictions once more. "We want to keep the virus out, (and) we need to continue to be cautious, we need to be absolutely careful about our State's borders. "We have been so good at suppressing, in fact eliminating the virus in Western Australia. I do not want us to jeopardise that at all." Mr McGowan said he was not surprised at the noticeable level of complacency when it comes to social distancing and personal hygiene measures among the public. "Obviously people aren't as serious about it as they were. We're victims of our own success," he said. "Beware at any time the virus could come back. We're not out of this yet, the world is full of COVID."