Mark McGowan slams “self-absorbed” Sydneysiders
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has slammed Sydneysiders accusing them of being “self-absorbed” and not knowing there's an Australia outside of the Harbour City.
The WA Premier made the comments when he was asked about NSW's controversial plan to reopen the state to the fully vaccinated next month when the jab rate reaches the 70 per cent mark.
“There's this headlong rush about these things in Sydney and Melbourne, but that's because Sydney and Melbourne are in lockdown,” McGowan said on Sunday.
“And that's because so many people in Sydney don't think there's an Australia outside of Sydney,” he added.
WA borders to stay closed in lead up to Christmas
Premier McGowan said he was keeping the WA borders closed to the rest of the country, adding he’s refusing to open them just because the east coast states have decided to end lockdowns when vaccination rates hit 70 per cent.
He added the borders will stay closed unless more than 80 per cent of West Australians are fully vaccinated.
McGowan’s firm stance has seen him cop a barrage of criticism from Prime Minister Scott Morrison and various Liberal Party ministers in NSW.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet even called him the “Gollum of Australian politics,” referring to the character from Lord of the Rings.
Criticising federal government for uneven distribution of vaccines
McGowan has retaliated to these criticisms saying: “We can't be criticised every day by the Prime Minister... and everyone else for not vaccinating at the same rate as NSW when they don't give us the same number of vaccines per capita as NSW.”
He went on to blame the federal government's uneven distribution of COVID vaccines for his state's slow rollout.
More than 100,000 Pfizer doses bound for WA were diverted to NSW in winter as the state battled the ongoing Delta outbreak.
“The states that provided that additional support to NSW now need to be given our catch-up supplies, in particular of Pfizer,” McGowan said last week.
“We can't have a situation where some states are punished for doing the right thing for NSW.
“We're basically running our supplies of Pfizer down each and every day,” he said.
Children from 12 to 15 encouraged to get a vaccination
Premier McGowan has announced that WA has expanded its eligibility criteria for COVID vaccinations allowing children aged 12 to 15 to receive a Pfizer shot.
He's now pleading with parents to sign their kids up for the jab, as the state continues to linger behind the national average when it comes to vaccination rates.
“More than 57 per cent of Western Australians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine but that rate needs to be rising,” he said.
“From tomorrow, if you're 12 or 20, or like myself you're even older than that, you're eligible to get the COVID vaccine and I'd encourage you to get vaccinated because this is our best chance out of this pandemic.
“[We're trying to] get to that group of people before they leave school and it becomes harder to access them,” he added.
“The Year 11 and 12 students are nearing the end, they're only going to be at school for a matter of weeks. It's a bit of a race against time,” he said.
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