The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has published an open letter signed by the CEOs of over 80 major Australian companies, calling on state and federal governments to work together to chart a path out of lockdown.
“The National Cabinet has agreed to a roadmap which provides a path out of lockdowns, with an easing of restrictions from 70 per cent and 80 per cent vaccination rates. We need to stay the course,” the letter recommended.
Citing the effectiveness of lockdowns in suppressing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the letter said that they are encouraged by the building momentum in the vaccine program, but warned that ongoing lockdowns may have hidden and long-lasting impacts.
“We have seen how effectively this country can come together over the past 18 months – with state and federal governments working alongside communities and businesses,” the letter said.
Drawing attention to “the impact of lockdowns on our people, on our customers, on our small business suppliers, and on communities and families right across the country,” the signatories called for an end to lockdowns.
“As vaccination rates increase, it will become necessary to open up society and live with the virus, in the same way that other countries have done,” the letter said.
The open letter was co-signed by the CEOs of over 80 major businesses, ranging from financial institutions like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac and ANZ to brands like Telstra, Optus, Uber and Accenture.
The CEOs of Fujitsu, Hertz, Suncorp, Woolworths, Coles, AGL and ASX were also among the companies who put their name on the letter.
Representing businesses that employ almost 1 million Australians, the group called on Australia’s political class to work together to implement the National Plan and “chart a path out of the current lockdowns.”
“Providing a light at the end of the tunnel will encourage more Australians to get vaccinated. We need to give people something to hope for, something to look forward to, something to plan around, and to be confident about their futures,” the letter said.
The letter comes after weeks of mixed messaging from Australia’s political leaders, with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian telegraphing that the state may soon begin easing restrictions despite rising case numbers.
“Every state is going to have to accept that you cannot live in a bubble forever,” she said.
To date, Ms Berejiklian has insisted that any potential easing of restrictions aligns with the modelling from the Doherty Institute, which the National Plan uses as a basis.
Other state leaders from Victoria and Western Australia have disagreed, with Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan warning that loosening the state’s stringent border restrictions while both NSW cases remained high and Western Australia’s vaccination remained low would be akin to deliberately letting the virus into the state.
“By knowingly letting the virus in, it would mean we’d have hundreds of people die, have to wind back our local freedoms, introduce restrictions and shut down large parts of our economy,” he said.
