Opposition pressure to reopen borders

THE state opposition is calling for Queensland’s borders to reopen now.

LNP deputy leader and treasurer spokesman Tim Mander said the latest ABS regional employment statistics released yesterday showed there were 7500 Cairns people officially unemployed in April.

“That’s up 1400 on a year ago – and this is before the expected coronavirus job losses kick in,” he said.

“It adds more weight to the argument to reopen borders for interstate tourism in July, as the industry had been expecting until this week.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk’s decision to keep the borders closed until at least September means that Cairns is in for a world of unemployment pain.

“The Palaszczuk Labor government is turning a health crisis into a jobs crisis in Far North Queensland.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk’s mixed messages over Queensland’s borders is destroying the confidence and ambition of Cairns’ tourism businesses.

“Queenslanders are crying out for certainty and clarity, but all they are getting is chaos and confusion from Labor.

“The biggest roadblock to protecting jobs and restarting the Far North’s economy is the Palaszczuk Labor government. Reopening the border is a key step towards restarting the Queensland economy and protecting jobs.”

Tourism supports 28,200 jobs in the Far North and contributes $3 billion to the local economy. Over the past year, the Cairns unemployment rate has increased by 0.5 per cent up to 5.3 per cent.

REOPENING THE BORDER IS A KEY STEP TOWARDS RESTARTING THE QUEENSLAND ECONOMY AND PROTECTING JOBS