An elimination of COVID-19 community transmission in the eastern states remains the benchmark for reopening Western Australia's borders, Premier Mark McGowan says.
All states and territories except WA agreed at Friday's national cabinet meeting to aim to reopen their borders by Christmas.
WA's borders have been closed for five months and the McGowan government, which is up for re-election next March, is refusing to put a date on when it will allow interstate travel to recommence.
"A date will be set when our health advice recommends it, but that might be some time away," the premier said after the meeting.
"We went through this before and then (the outbreak in) Victoria happened. Opening and closing borders just causes more confusion and it isn't a good outcome for the state's economy."
Mr McGowan confirmed WA would not reopen its borders until states such as Victoria and NSW went 28 days without any confirmed community transmission.
"It may well be a long time. I can't predict how long it will be," he said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other state leaders understood and respected WA's position, Mr McGowan said.
WA has just two active cases, both interstate travellers who will return home once they have recovered.
In the past month, 15 cases have been recorded, all among returning travellers who were placed in hotel quarantine.
It has been 146 days since WA's last confirmed community transmission.
Mr McGowan said he felt for people separated from their loved ones, noting that he also couldn't see his parents in NSW.
"I talk to them twice a week. They're not quite on top of Zoom but we talk on the phone," he said.
"Like many people, they understand. They're in an age bracket where obviously they are worried about catching COVID.
"Eventually the border will come down and we'll be reunited, and that will be a great occasion."
The premier said there were 19 people under police watch in hotels after being deemed to be a high risk of breaching quarantine.
A total of 1837 people are quarantining across seven Perth hotels.
Opposition Leader Liza Harvey said it would be a tragedy if West Australian families could not gather at Christmas.
"Protecting the health of all West Australians from COVID-19 is the priority," she said.
"Unfortunately the government does not share its health advice with the opposition."
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief executive Chris Rodwell said it was unsustainable for WA to remain a closed economy in the long term.
"In the last quarter, the size of WA's domestic economy contracted to the same size it was in 2010," he said.
"The door remains open to the state government to join the national cabinet in forging a path back towards an open, growing national economy."
Australian Associated Press
