Qantas boss Alan Joyce has doubled down on comments he made last week comparing Western Australia to North Korea, saying the state's hard border had divided the country "a bit like Korea is divided".
Mr Joyce told the ABC he was not describing the West Australian government as a dictatorship, but he stood by the comment.
"I said, 'Unfortunately our country is divided, a bit like Korea is divided,'" he said.
"And it feels like we have a part that is like North Korea, that is very restricted in parts of what the people can do in terms of travel.
"And I think that is the way people feel."
Mr Joyce made the initial comment while talking about WA's hard border on a Melbourne-based Nine Radio talkback show.
"In Western Australia, there isn't a plan for when that is going to open up. It's starting to look like North Korea," he said at the time.
The airline chief executive has not shied away from criticising the state's closed border since a planned reopening of WA on February 5 was cancelled indefinitely, with little more than two weeks' notice.
Airline bookings 'up in the air'
Qantas had about 20,000 people booked on flights into Perth in the first week alone, aircraft had been prepared, staff paid and flights scheduled.
"And then it all got thrown up in the air," Mr Joyce said.
He said it had been a huge blow, financially, and to Australians generally, and trust had been damaged.
He said businesses did not like uncertainty.
"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," he said.
Joyce's comments 'trivial', says McGowan
Asked about the "North Korea" comparison last week, a spokeswoman for the Premier said the government was focused on protecting the health of West Australians and keeping businesses operating safely.
"These type of trivial comments from some in the east are hardly new," she said.
"Omicron has changed everything, and the McGowan government is putting the health of Western Australians first to try to minimise the disruption and impact it can cause, which has devastated industry, cost lives and jobs, in other jurisdictions."
The spokeswoman said efforts by the government had supported businesses, including Qantas.
"Throughout the pandemic, Qantas has benefited from our decisions that have kept our FIFO-based resources sector operating, which meant FIFO flights continued during COVID.
"Qantas has also benefited from our record intrastate travel boom, which has been driven by the West Australian government's significant investment in making flights more affordable."
Warning 'talent' could shift east
Mr Joyce warned there would be "unintended consequences" for Wa if the hard border remained closed and, he said, profitable businesses and talented people would leave the state.
"You've had a lot of businesses already saying they are basing people outside of Western Australia," he said.
"To run a national business, Wesfarmers — and even my chairman, Richard Goyder, who is chair of Qantas, the AFL and Woodside — has actually said he needs to move to the eastern states for a period of time.
"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."
Mr Joyce said the damage could be long term if the business sector was not given some sort of plan soon.
Wesfarmers boss welcomes new isolation rules
Wesfarmers' managing director, Rob Scott, did not address whether he would be leaving WA, but in a statement said he welcomed the shortened quarantine periods for travellers that were introduced yesterday.
"This will make it easier for families and businesses to undertake critical interstate travel, and will also reduce the impact of COVID-related absenteeism," he said.
"It will also reduce the length of time people will need to stay out of the state, when travelling for business.
"This is a step in the right direction as Western Australia adjusts, in a pragmatic and safe way, to life with COVID."
From today, the quarantine period for approved arrivals into WA has been halved to seven days of self-isolation.
