Should the Queensland border restrictions be lifted?
Queensland's Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young, left , and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk: “I will take my advice from the Chief Health Officer.”
Hinterland Tourism and Hospitality are suffering under the weight of COVID-19 restrictions. Is it time to open the borders to tourists to help local operators get back on their feet?
We asked local representatives for their views:
• State Member for Glass House Andrew Powell
“I absolutely believe that our borders should be re-opened. Queensland is averaging one or less new cases of COVID-19 per day, and we have thorough safety precautions which have been proven to work. In keeping our borders closed beyond July, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is risking a serious economic crisis for our tourism industry – an industry that forms the basis of the vast majority of businesses and employment in the Glass House electorate. I understand that people are fearful of a second wave, but we’ve suppressed this virus once already and know how to handle it. The long term damage to our state from keeping the borders closed for much longer will be unimaginable.”
• State Member for Nicklin Marty Hunt
“The issue here is the mixed messaging. The Government’s own roadmap suggests opening borders on 10th July, then the Premier comes out with September in a press conference. People who rely on tourism need certainty and a plan. Our area relies so much on tourism, we need a firm plan out of this and all we are getting is dithering and indecision.”
• Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien
“My view is yes they should (lift border restrictions). The uncertainty about when they might be lifted helps no one. As a region that’s partly reliant on tourism, closed borders into Queensland sees us effectively vacating the field and allowing other locations to steal visitors that may have otherwise planned to visit our region over the months ahead. I know these are hard decisions, but the time has come to get the economy going and secure people's livelihoods. My main concern is the uncertainty that is surrounding this issue and the impact on jobs and our region’s efforts to recover. Uncertainty about when the border restrictions will be lifted is severely impacting the ability of our tourism industry to plan for its future re-opening. This will result in a significant loss to local businesses and livelihoods across tourism, hospitality, accommodation, retail and so forth. Part of the confusion lies in the Queensland Government’s own roadmap which points to the possibility of interstate travel from 11 July, yet the Premier is suggesting Queensland’s borders may not open until September. Businesses don’t know what to do, and I support them in calling for clarity and certainty.”
• Federal Member for Fisher Andrew Wallace:
“The tourism businesses that I've been speaking with over the last several weeks. They have been hurting incredibly. They are in dire straits. The rate of transmission in Australia is very, very low. We've got the testing and the tracing protocols in place and we have the ability to be able to step on outbreaks, and effectively manage them. The Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth, Paul Kelly, just last week came out and said: ‘there is no medical reason why the borders should now be closed’. Now the Commonwealth medical officers, they've steered us meticulously through this crisis. And I'm not about to disagree with their advice now. And they've come out clearly and said there’s no reason for the borders to be closed. So I don't know what advice the Premier is relying upon. But I hope and pray that she's not using this as a political tool. She's come out and said it's likely the border might be opened in September. Well if she's hoping that that can give her a bump or a bounce in the polls in the October State election, then I think that Queenslanders might be thinking of giving her government a different type of bounce.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk responds:
“The last people I’m going to take my advice from is the LNP. I will take my advice from the Chief Health Officer. But what we’ve seen at a national level is I work very constructively with the Prime Minister and I’ve worked very constructively with other state and territory leaders. I am yet to see the LNP wanting to work constructively with my Government. It’s very disappointing actually, because I think Queenslanders expect everyone to be working together during these tough times.”