Western Australia’s premier has received a death threat over continuing criticism over the state’s delayed border reopening.
Premier Mark McGowan’s office was closed on Tuesday as hazmat crews dealt with a suspicious package containing white powder. It was later confirmed the powder was non-toxic.
A letter containing a death threat was also received by staff, according to Nine News. The letter would be the latest in a series of threats made towards the state premier following the introduction of vaccination mandates in the state.
The scare came as McGowan has faced sharp criticism for delays to WA’s border reopening plan, with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce comparing the state border to North Korea in recent media interviews.
The airline had 20,000 customers affected by the state’s change to its border reopening plan, according to the ABC.
"In Western Australia, there isn't a plan for when that is going to open up. It's starting to look like North Korea," Joyce said in a radio interview.
The chief executive doubled down on his comments to the ABC.
"And costing us, essentially, tens of millions of dollars by not opening up the borders means we are going to be more conservative on whatever other date is proposed out there."
"It's in Western Australia's interest to open up, to get those businesses to be able to operate nationally, otherwise they are going to lose talent, they are going to lose people, they are going to lose that investment locally," he said.
In mid-January, McGowan delayed the full reopening of WA’s borders, having said it was to allow more third-dose booster vaccines to be administered.
"It would be reckless and irresponsible to open up now, I can't do it," McGowan said when announcing the decision.
The state premier has given no indication of when the state's borders will fully reopen.
But the recent easing of entry requirements and case contact quarantine rules, along with a rapidly rising third-dose vaccination rate, suggests the reopening is unlikely to be far away.
WA's booster rate is nearing 46 per cent and is on course to be well above 80 per cent by early-March if the current take-up is sustained.
"Eventually we'll get international tourists coming back, at some point in the future," the state premier said.
"We've just got to make sure we get our third dose vaccination levels up because that will actually preserve lives."
In written advice to the state premier last month, Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson said the government would need to weigh up overall booster coverage against the waning of protection among more vulnerable people from around the end of March.
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