Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has copped fierce backlash after imposing tough new rules on live music events as the state grapples with its Omicron outbreak.
All public outdoor events in WA will be capped at 500 attendees from 12.01am on Thursday, with crowds forced to wear a mask and stay two square metres apart.
The restriction is part of Australia’s toughest Covid public health measures, which also include a 10-person home gathering limit and indoor mask mandates for Year 3 students and above.
There are no longer restrictions on live music events in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and the ACT.
The new rules for WA’s live events will affect concerts in Perth by Australian music icons Missy Higgins and Jimmy Barnes on March 6 and March 20.
Crowds pictured for a performance at Optus Stadium in Perth. All public outdoor events in WA will be capped at 500 people from 12.01am on Thursday
Performances by Crowded House on April 1-3 and Midnight Oil on March 26 will also be impacted by the attendance cap.
Ms Higgins said she was cancelling both of her WA gigs this weekend due to the 500-person rule.
Midnight Oil announced they would either reschedule or cancel their performance by the end of the week, and hit out at the ‘deeply frustrating’ rule change.
‘Yesterday Western Australia announced that outdoor concerts crowds are capped at only 500 people for at least the next four weeks,’ the band wrote on Facebook.
‘As such our show at Nikola Estate on March 26, and basically every other big gig in WA this month, will not be able to proceed as planned.
‘Obviously this situation is deeply frustrating given that sports stadiums are still being allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity.
‘It is imperative that the WA state government helps local promoters and event workers get back on their feet by staging these shows at a later time.’
Venues with forward-facing seating meanwhile can only host events at 50 per cent of their usual capacity.
Tour promoter John Zaccaria, who is running the SummerSalt and By The C festivals featuring sets by Higgins and Barnes, said it made no sense that he couldn’t have a crowd larger than 500.
‘We can’t have an event for more than 500 people at a park that has 19,000 square metres,’ he told The Australian.
Iconic Aussie rock band Midnight Oil announced they would either reschedule or cancel their March 26 performance by the end of the week
Pictured: Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan. WA is bringing in tough new Covid restrictions
‘How can I go to Crown Theatre and watch a musical with 1200 people, but I can’t go to a big wide open park and watch Missy Higgins with thousands of people?’
The other new rules in WA – which is due to open to the rest of Australia on Thursday – include subjecting hospitality venues to a four square metre density rule and a limit of 150 patrons.
WA on Tuesday recorded a further 1,175 infections but none of the 16 cases in hospital are in intensive care. The state now has 5,994 active cases.
Premier Mark McGowan insisted the strict new ‘level two’ rules were necessary to manage an outbreak which the government now expects to peak at about 10,000 daily cases within two to three weeks.
He said he was hopeful they would only need to remain in place for a month.
‘Based on the experience over east, this Omicron outbreak is expected to peak before the end of March,’ he said.
‘Case numbers will dramatically rise, hospitalisations will rise, some people will get very sick and tragically, some people may die.
‘March will be the most difficult month Western Australia experiences in this whole pandemic and we would be irresponsible if we didn’t have the most appropriate measures in place during the period where they are most required.’
Mr McGowan said the home gathering cap was being introduced because the virus often spread during those visits.
‘We know from the experience around the country, that it is the home gatherings of families that cause the most spread of the virus,’ he said.
‘We know that many families are already doing the right thing and minimising contact, particularly protecting the most vulnerable in their family, which is so important.’
With the rest of the nation easing restrictions, Mr McGowan denied it was premature to tighten rules which had only been in place for one week.
The other new rules include subjecting hospitality venues to a four square metre density rule and a limit of 150 patrons. Pictured is a masked barista in Perth in December
He expected hospitalisations to increase ‘dramatically’ despite WA entering its Omicron outbreak with far higher vaccination rates than other jurisdictions had.
About 63 per cent of eligible West Australians have now received their third vaccine dose.
WA Health modelling suggests the state will have almost half a million cases and 129 deaths over the next six months, with 715 people admitted to ICU.
One person has so far died during WA’s Omicron outbreak.
Mr McGowan said the revised rules would spare smaller venues such as cafes and restaurants from financial pain while slowing the spread of cases.
A young woman wears a face mask on December 24, 2021 in Perth. Western Australia is about to introduce Australia’s toughest Covid-19 restrictions
‘While we have avoided some of the tougher measures, this will still be an impact on many operators and on people’s lives and for that, I’m sorry,’ he said.
A new round of financial assistance for affected businesses will be announced later this week.
WA is due to also reopen its borders to vaccinated travellers from Thursday, with modelling indicating it will have a negligible impact on case numbers.
Mr McGowan announced on Sunday that in an Australian first, more than one million WA households would be provided with five RAT kits after registering online.
People were given the option of having the kits sent by post or picking them up at Perth Airport.
