Fuel prices: West Australians choose to holiday locally this Easter as hip pockets continue to tighten

More West Australians are choosing to holiday locally this Easter to cushion the blow from oil prices hovering above two dollars.

Despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging Australians to “go about business and life as normal”, Crown Perth is fully booked this Easter long weekend and last-minute bookings have soared over the past week.

“Enjoy Easter. If you’re hitting the road, don’t take more fuel than you need, just refuel as you normally would,” he said in his national address on Wednesday.

Crown Perth general manager Andrew Cairns said Easter was always busy but bookings had increased in recent days.

“We probably saw a spike and increase in last-minute bookings,” he said.

“First of all, it’s convenience; you don’t have to travel for hours… we’re coming towards the end of sunny, warm weather, so people like to take advantage of that.”

James Sayer booked a two-night family holiday, saying he was hesitant to book an interstate or international holiday.

“With the conflict in Iran and possible fuel supply shortages, it was actually a situation where we didn’t want to go either north or south,” the Mandurah local said.

“We also wanted to stay local and didn’t want to travel abroad.”

Mr Sayer’s wife, Caryn, said Perth had a lot of work to do but was close to home in case of any urgent work.

“Yesterday we went to the Flight Club and last night we went to the Burswood movies,” he said.

“Our business in Mandurah has been disrupted, so if there are any problems at home we are close enough to be able to come back home, but we are still a long way from being in holiday mode.”

Towns in the state’s Gascoyne region, including Exmouth and Carnarvon, have been wiped out from tourists following the devastation of Cyclone Narelle this week.

Exmouth, a popular fishing and snorkelling destination, has suffered serious infrastructure damage and the town’s local airport remains closed. The area remains closed to tourists from the south and flooding on the North West Highway has kept many major roads closed.

Prime Minister Roger Cook has urged holidaymakers not to cancel but to reschedule instead.

Emergency Services Minister Paul Papalia said electricity had been restored to 80 percent of the town.

Nearby Onslow, popular for fishing, was also negatively affected and closed to travel.

“Water supplies continue to reach Onslow but are limited due to damage to the water mains to the east of the town,” Mr Papalia said.

“Normal production will resume once Water Corporation completes repairs to the southern drilling field infrastructure and restores high voltage power. Current estimates indicate this work will be completed early next week.”

“Importantly, there are currently no concerns regarding fuel or food supplies in the affected communities.”

But Kalbarri’s Visitor Center said fuel concerns were deterring potential holidaymakers.

“They don’t want to be stuck anywhere,” manager Natalie Moir said.

Located at the bottom end of the state, Albany’s Dog Rock Motel was fully booked despite being a four-hour drive from Perth.

“I think the fuel tax cut really gives people some relief,” said Bry Fairhead, the motel’s front desk manager.

“It’s not so much families that died, it’s more just couples.”