Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner says he will hold off on any decision to reopen the Territory's borders after further restrictions were eased and a series of mass gatherings were held in southern states across the weekend.
On Tuesday morning he said the Government would be monitoring rates of community transmission across the country after thousands of people congregated in some states over the weekend for Black Lives Matter rallies.
"We’re watching these community transmission rates down south. No-one knows the answer yet on how they'll handle the step out from stage one to stage two [restriction easing]," he said.
"We obviously saw large gatherings of people down south over the weekend."
Mr Gunner said it would take about 10 days to see if the protests led to the spread of coronavirus.
"We will know very soon if it's contained down south, and then with confidence you can make a border decision," he said.
The Northern Territory is still going ahead with the first easing of its strict border laws when mandatory hotel quarantine is discarded and arrivals from interstate will be able to self-quarantine from June 15.
Mr Gunner said the Government would be reviewing the border closures weekly from the middle of June.
While the borders remain closed, Mr Gunner said he was aware Northern Territory businesses were acutely struggling due to travel restrictions during the current May to September tourist season.
"I'm very sensitive to the fact that there's a lot of businesses out there who need visitors to be viable," he said.
"I'm also aware and have made a lot of decisions over the last three months, about what is it we need to do to save lives and be cautious around coronavirus.
"While we've been very lucky in the Territory in many respects about not having to experience [coronavirus] as other places have … I don't want people to experience it; it would be devastating."
The Northern Territory has zero active cases of coronavirus; all 30 cases diagnosed in the NT have recovered.
Last Friday, restrictions on travel within the Northern Territory, including to remote communities, were lifted nearly two weeks ahead of schedule.
