While New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern has extended its current national lockdown until the end of this week.
In a speech in Canberra, Morrison said the current lockdowns around many regions of Australia “cannot go on forever” and were “not sustainable” after the weekend saw a series of anti-lockdown protests in major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney.
“Once you get to 70% of your country eligible for vaccine, and then 80%, the plan sets out that we have to move forward,” said Morrison. “We cannot hold back. Our task between that day and now is that we ready ourselves for that next phase.”
Morrison added the country must continue to vaccinate the population at its current “record pace”.
“We must adjust our mindset, cases will not be the issue once we get above 70%,” he said.
Under its Covid plans, Australia’s government hopes that full lockdowns will be “unlikely” once 70% of people over 16 have been vaccinated.
When vaccination levels reach 80%, those fully jabbed will be able to travel between states within Australia.
Australia has closed its borders to international visitors during the Covid-19 crisis as a way to reduce potential infections. There has been speculation that its borders could remain closed until 2022.
Neighbouring New Zealand has also closed its border during the pandemic. But Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins has admitted the arrival of the fast-spreading Delta variant “does change everything”.
“It does mean that all of our existing protections start to look less adequate and less robust as a result of that we are looking very closely at what more we can do there,” Hipkins told a local current affairs programme. “At some point, we will have to start to be more open in the future.”
New Zealand is also going through a nationwide lockdown after 72 cases of the Delta variant were detected.
The country is currently set to keep its borders closed to international arrivals for the rest of 2021.
