KAP’s northern lockout idea gains support

BASED on the high proportion of Queensland COVID-19 cases in the state’s southeast corner, support is growing to further restrict interstate travel and quarantine the north.

The idea was first proposed by Katter’s Australian Party last week and brought into focus when Kennedy MP Bob

Katter chartered a plane towing a message for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, which read: “Isolate North Qld now!”

The first COVID-19 cases on the Cassowary Coast, confirmed on Thursday, had Hill MP Shane Knuth pushing for the north Queensland quarantine zone. “We have … ageing populations in country areas and we want to protect them and to ensure we remain vigilant at all times,” he said.

The latest Queensland Health figures show 8 per cent of all the state’s COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed north of Gladstone.

North Queensland, from Cape York down to the Tropic of Capricorn (around Rockhampton), had a total of 92 confirmed coronavirus cases, as of yesterday.

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning would not be drawn either way on a north Queensland quarantine zone.

He said he was taking official direction from the federal and state governments.

“And if we have people running around, everyone with a different idea, we will all end up in a great big schmozzle,” he said. “I have got no comment on Bob Katter and there is probably hundreds of opinions out there and all we do is confuse people.”

Under the KAP plan, the Australian Defence Force would be used to monitor check points restricting access to the north, northwest and southwest of the state.

WE HAVE ... AGEING POPULATIONS IN COUNTRY AREAS AND WE WANT TO PROTECT THEM ... HILL MP SHANE KNUTH