SYDNEY, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Business sector representatives have called for an urgent reopening of Australia's domestic borders, saying the current rules were having an uneven impact on jurisdictions and dampening the national economy.

The Australian Industry (Ai) Group, in a statement released Wednesday, described the remaining state and territory border restrictions as "more unjustifiable as each day passes."

"State governments should wean themselves off the political attraction of border barriers or risk their economic recovery and the jobs of their community," Ai Group Chief Executive Innes Willox said.

On the same day, Australia's hardest hit state of Victoria saw the most significant easing of COVID-19 restrictions since entering lockdown nearly four months ago, recording only a handful of new infections so far this week.

Willox said that leaders should not rest on their past accomplishments and should be looking to boost national economic recovery as soon as possible.

"While the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) feels the economy may have edged back into growth in the September quarter there is a very mixed picture being reported by businesses depending on the state or territory and industry they are in," Willox said.

"From a labor market perspective, we are definitely not out of the woods with effective unemployment still at 1990s recession levels."

Earlier in the week, Australia's island state of Tasmania reopened to mainlanders after being closed for almost seven months, while pressure remained on the state of Queensland to do the same.

Also of significant concern was the border between Victoria and Australia's other most populous state, New South Wales, which has been heavily restricted since Victoria's second wave hit several months ago.

"Given the size and connectedness of these two economies it is vital the borders are completely opened as soon as possible," Willox said.

Officials in the state of New South Wales said Wednesday they would wait for two weeks to monitor Victoria's case rates before reopening.

"We'll take the border down as soon as we can, but we do need to wait to see what impact easing of restrictions in Melbourne and Victoria has before we decide exactly when that will be," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. Enditem

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