Tasmania sets NSW reopening date

Tasmania is on track to reopen to all other Australian states/territories by the end of the year, with a date now set for New South Wales arrivals.

The decision is a key development ahead of the Australian Racing Group’s planned events early in the new year, at Symmons Plains and Baskerville, at either end of the island state.

NSW will be classified low-risk from November 6, meaning those entering Tasmania from the nation’s most populous state need not observe quarantine.

Arrivals from Victoria are slated to enjoy the same freedoms from some time in December, pending further analysis, after the Apple Isle fully opened to the other five states/territories from the start of this week.

“We’ve looked at the opportunity for this to occur and I am pleased to announce it is our intention to classify NSW as a low-risk area effective from Friday, November 6,” said Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein.

TCR Australia is scheduled to visit Symmons Plains on January 24-26 and Baskerville on January 30-31, with S5000 also set to race at the former.

Neither have yet raced in 2020 due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and November’s Bathurst International, which was to have been the inaugural running of that event, was cancelled earlier this month.

Internal border closures remain problematic for national competitions, although Motorsport Australia has now resumed issuing permits for events in Victoria from November 8.