Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australians will need to get used to living with the highly transmissible Delta strain of COVID-19, and no other country has achieved eradication of this variant.

Mr Frydenberg said he remains confident there will be an easing of restrictions when the country reaches a 70 to 80 per cent vaccination target of people aged over 16, even with cases of the virus still in the community.

“It is a reality that we have to live with the virus. We can’t eliminate it. Australia should open up as one, Australia should open up as one and that is why it is really important, whether you are in Western Australia, whether you are in Queensland, whether you are in the southern states, you should follow the plan,” Mr Frydenberg said.

He said “no other country” has eradicated Delta, “and based on the best medical advice we have, we can’t do it”.

“So we have to learn to live with the virus. That means, rapidly vaccinating as many people as possible breeding more supply online and then easing those restrictions,” he said.

“If we don’t stick to the national plan, businesses will close. If we don’t stick to the national plan, jobs will be lost. If we don’t stick to the national plan, our debt will increase. If we don’t stick to the national plan, the wellbeing of Australians will suffer.”

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He said authorities had to be cautious about the virus and its spread, including relying on expert advice around the spread of COVID-19 among children that showed the risk of the virus to children was much less severe than to older cohorts.

With this in mind, he said the Doherty Institute’s modelling remained the plan “even in the situation that children may contract the virus” and getting children back to school and ensuring kids’ mental health is protected were critical alongside the health concerns relating to Delta.

Mr Frydenberg said the signals out of Victoria and NSW about easing restrictions were a “positive step forward”.

He said it was not realistic for state and territory borders to be kept shut indefinitely and many areas had labour shortages and a tourism industry desperate to get visitors back.

“When I speak to business leaders, including proud West Australians like [Seven Group Holdings chairman] Kerry Stokes and Rob Scott of Wesfarmers, they want their state, and their country to stick to the plan, because the economy gets harmed if they don’t,” he said, adding big businesses and employers in WA and Queensland want the states to stick to the road map.