The West Live: Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann calls for WA Premier Mark McGowan to see reason on hard border policy

Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann will join The West Live this morning as he continues his push for WA Premier Mark McGowan to open the State's hard border.

Returning to The West Live hosting duties after a short stand-in by Inside Cover editor Ben O'Shea, The West Australian's assistant editor and columnist Jenna Clarke will quiz the WA senator on his opposition to the border.

Writing in The West today, Mr Cormann said it was wrong to "gratuitously impose unnecessary and avoidable economic or social harm for no or very little public health upside" by keeping WA's doors closed to other areas with low to no community transmission.

This week, the State Government has defended its hard border closure in the Federal Court against Queensland mining magnate Clive Palmer’s legal challenge.

Mr Cormann has said the legal battle could not simply be thrown out and it was understandable for Mr McGowan to want to keep those coming from COVID-19 hotspots away.

When speaking to Clarke and The West’s business editor Sarah-Jane Tasker during a Q&A in front of an audience of about 900 people at The West Australian’s Leadership Matters event yesterday, Mr McGowan labelled Mr Palmer as “the biggest loser”.

Later on the show, Australian Retailers Association chief executive officer Paul Zahra will discuss the national debate around a woman dubbed "Bunnings Karen" after she filmed herself berating staff at the hardware store over its face mask policy.

Her behaviour at a store in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren on Friday has since gone viral but also sparked debate on the treatment of retail employers amid the pandemic.

After 9am, O’Shea will be back on the podcast to share some quirky stories from across the State in his Wild West segment.

Sunrise Perth correspondent Matt Tinney will also feature to update West Australian’s on the latest news headlines.

For all that and more, tune in here from 8.45AM.