Libby Mettam says Wesfarmers decision to leave isolated WA ‘tip of the iceberg’ with more businesses to follow

Wesfarmers decision to shift senior executives to the Eastern States is “the tip of the iceberg” according to shadow health minister Libby Mettam, who predicted a raft of other businesses would follow suit. It was a sentiment echoed by WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Chris Rodwell, who said the ongoing border uncertainty was “perilous for WA”. As revealed by The West Australian, WA’s biggest company is temporarily relocating key staff – including chief executive Rob Scott – to Melbourne and Sydney out of exasperation with WA’s continued hard border settings. “The uncertainty around when the border might reopen and the continuing inflexibility towards business-critical travel means that it is now virtually impossible to run a national business from Perth,” Mr Scott said. Reacting to the decision – which came a week after Premier Mark McGowan indefinitely pushed back the planned February 5 reopening – Ms Mettam said WA’s continued isolation was causing “broader reputational damage”. “Wesfarmers moving east is the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “There are fears that many other businesses will follow suit because of the McGowan Government’s lack of management, lack of planning, and betrayal of the hard border decision.” “No other government in the world has had more time to prepare and yet this government continues to ask Western Australians to do more, deal with more complex rules and yet they still fail to provide any detail on when they will come good on their promise to the WA people.” A survey conducted by the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry found nearly two-thirds of businesses reported they would be negatively impacted by Mr McGowan’s border delay. CCIWA chief executive Chris Rodwell said the results revealed there was “concern and frustration among businesses about the indefinite border”. It’s led to questions about the viability of being headquartered here, and that is perilous for WA,” he said. “It reconfirms that we need a date, and a much more comprehensive plan to keep and attract businesses to this State. “Not so long ago we reflected that WA was viewed as a hotspot for investment. We’ve failed to leverage that position and are faltering in efforts to attract people or capital to our State. We need to be making conditions better and more competitive for business, to attract investment and national and global firms to headquarter here - not the opposite.” Mr Scott nominated the inability to travel to the eastern states without having to quarantine for two-weeks on arrival back in WA as a key driver of the Wesfarmers decision. “I’m not sure why a 14-day quarantine should still apply, especially with RAT and PCR regimes for people who are isolating. This is out of step with the rest of the country, and most of the world.” Mr McGowan on Friday confirmed WA would loosen its close contact definition and slash isolation requirements once the State reaches a “high caseload environment” – but could not provide clear guidance on exactly what would trigger that threshold. He said it would be determined based on health advice taking into account daily infections numbers, the extent to which they could be linked to know cases and the time infected people were spending in the community. “More uncertainty, more complexity and yet no clarity on the path forward for Western Australians,” Ms Mettam said. “Again, we see more rules, more scaremongering from our Premier and yet no clarity for Western Australians who overwhelmingly have stepped up in support of a February 5 border opening.” Ms Mettam, the deputy WA Liberal leader, also accused the McGowan Government of failing to purchase enough RAT kits for a February 5 re-opening. “Despite approving this vital COVID tool for the mining industry about 2 years ago it beggars belief we have seen the McGowan scramble to buy kits using taxpayer funds to charter supplies into WA, while we have had a supply on our doorstep,” she said. Mr McGowan has repeatedly refused to reveal the date his government placed its first order for rapid tests, saying only the transaction occurred in “early December”.