Food truck Latina Plant Power at Fringe World in Perth. Supplied.
Small businesses and the arts and entertainment industry in Western Australia have suffered a blow, as the latest coronavirus scare sends Perth and surrounding areas into a five-day hard lockdown.
Fringe World, which is Western Australia’s largest annual arts event, has cancelled performances and closed its venues for five days, or until the lockdown lifts.
The festival showcases independent artists and companies, from cabaret to stand-up, across more than one hundred venues between mid-January to February 14, and boasts a range of food and drink options in its festival hubs.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan will need to “properly explain” the rationale behind locking millions of people down over just one coronavirus case.
Following a quarantine breach in Western Australia, greater metropolitan Perth, the Peel region, and the South West regions have been forced into a five-day lockdown.
Under the new hard lockdown, there are only four reasons to leave one’s home which include essential shopping, medical or healthcare needs – including compassionate requirements – exercise for only one hour with one other person, and work if you cannot work at home.
Mr Dutton acknowledged “WA has taken a very stern approach to their border arrangements from the start”.
However, he said it was important for premiers to outline the “thinking behind” locking over a million people down for the sake of business owners who will be impacted.
“It makes it difficult of course for businesses and for people who ar
Peter Dutton has accused Mark McGowan of imposing a harsh five-day lockdown in Western Australia to boost his chances of re-election.
The premier on Sunday imposed stay-at-home orders for 80 per cent of the state s population after a single hotel quarantine security guard caught coronavirus.
The Home Affairs Minister said Mr McGowan had over-reacted because he doesn t want to jeopardise his chances at the polls in March if more infections emerge.
Peter Dutton has accused Mark McGowan of imposing a lockdown in Western Australia to boost his chances of re-election. Pictured: Long lines for testing in Perth on Sunday
Perth was left deserted on Sunday after Mark McGowan locked the city down for five days
Sky News host Peta Credlin says the lockdown in Perth clearly shows the Western Australian government appears to have been “asleep at the wheel” and failed to learn key lessons out of Victoria.
Three regions in Western Australia’s south west, including Perth, have been placed into a five day full lockdown as of Sunday night after a hotel quarantine worker contracted what is believed to be the UK strain of COVID-19.
The man has also been reported to have worked another job as a rideshare driver, sparking fears the virus has spread throughout the country’s fourth largest city.
Ms Credlin said all Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan could say about the “monumental stuff up” over a security guard working as an Uber driver was that it was “complicated”.
“No, it's not actually. It's actually pretty simple. You just have to make it a condition of working in hotel quarantine that workers don't have any other job,” she said.
The Sky News host also cri
Mark McGowan presided over system which ‘wasn’t protecting its citizens’01/02/2021|10min
Sky News host Paul Murray said Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has clearly been a “passenger in National Cabinet” as he has presided over a system which “wasn’t protecting its citizens”.
“This bloke did not do the work and that’s why Perth is in lockdown right now,” Mr Murray said.
Three regions in Western Australia’s south west, including Perth, have been placed into a five day full lockdown as of Sunday night after a hotel quarantine worker contracted what is believed to be the UK strain of COVID-19.