The head of Canberra Airport says vaccinated locals should be exempt from "draconian" lockdowns and border restrictions from as soon as next month, as he advocates a quicker path to freedom than the route flagged by national cabinet.
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Stephen Byron believes that once about 40 per cent of the ACT's population, including all over-70s and other vulnerable cohorts, are vaccinated then those protected should be able to "get their freedoms back".
About 15 per cent of the roughly 344,000 eligible Canberrans are fully vaccinated, while about 41 per cent have received one shot, according the latest daily data.
The federal government's vaccine supply projections show the territory is in line to receive more than 50,000 doses a week through July and August, meaning the 40 per cent target could be reached before the start of spring.
"Once we have 40 per cent we do need to start getting some of our freedoms back," Mr Byron said.
"What we would need [from states] is a surety that there won't be border closures. If you have been vaccinated, you won't be subject to them.
"We should be only weeks away from being rid of these draconian lockdowns and border closures. It's time to set the dates, but the dates need to be set once the vulnerable have been vaccinated."
The latest national coronavirus flare up caused mass disruption to interstate travel, with Canberra Airport passenger numbers plummeting to 75 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
Mr Byron, who has previously pushed for freedom of movement for vaccinated people, spoke to The Canberra Times after national cabinet agreed "in principle" to a new four-stage roadmap to lead Australia out out of the pandemic.
The airport boss's view is more ambitious than national cabinet's roadmap, which only envisages greater freedoms for vaccinated Australians at the second stage.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on Friday hopeful of moving to the second stage next year, but that hinges on Australia hitting yet-to-be-determined vaccination targets.
Canberra business leaders were glad to finally see a strategy to steer Australia to post-Covid normality, but criticised the lack of critical details - particularly the vaccine targets.
Infectious diseases experts have suggested population-wide vaccination rates of between 60 and 80 per cent would be needed before Australia could safely change how it treats the virus.
About 9 per cent of Australians aged over-16 are now fully vaccinated.
Australian Hotels Association ACT general manager Anthony Brierley said it was "incredible frustrating" that governments were still unable to provide the sector with an indication of when they would be free from the risks of coronavirus restrictions.
Mr Brierley said Canberra's hotels were expected to be full this week with Kanga Cup in town, before the latest outbreak prompted the tournament to be postponed and triggered a rush of booking cancellations.
While the territory is largely restriction-free aside from the mask mandate, Mr Brierley said the ACT government should be considering cash support for the sector.
"If restrictions were tightened again, it would almost unconscionable not to provide," he said.
Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum chair David Marshall was concerned that even when the vaccine targets were released, there was no iron-clad guarantee that state premiers would adopt them and avoid resorting to lockdowns and border closures.
"What's lacking is holidaymaker confidence," Mr Marshall said.
"We need to have a firm indication of what the states are going to do when these numbers are released. Until we get that confirmation, it's very difficult for tourism operators."
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Graham Catt said while it was "great step forward" to have a roadmap, it lacked the details the private sector needed to plan for the future.
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