Tourism calls for border review
GREG STOLZ, MICHAEL WRAY AND JEREMY PIERCE
PREMIERS will have to justify closing borders under new national guidelines amid revelations that Queensland’s peak tourism industry faces a $15bn battering if the border stays shut until Christmas.
Following yesterday’s National Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to ask the nation’s top doctors to establish a uniform medical definition for COVID hot spot declarations, in a move to create “transparency” that would make it clear if leaders were operating outside of it to justify border closures.
Mr Morrison also welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s decision to this week ease tough border restrictions so NSW residents can access medical care in Queensland as well as the expansion of border zones around Goondiwindi.
The developments came as almost 9000 people signed a petition calling for further easing of tough border controls.
Tweed Shire Council also called for the border bubble to be expanded further after being inundated with complaints from residents about how the hardline closure is “negatively impacting lives and livelihoods”.
Outside the small tweaks, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly refused to ease the border restrictions, declaring this week that she “won’t bend for anyone”.
Her comments came after Qantas boss Alan Joyce attacked the closure and federal Health Minister Greg Hunt called on the Premier to show “common decency” and grant more exemptions for medical staff and patients trying to cross the state line.
Speaking after National Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed the Palaszczuk Government had relaxed border restrictions for NSW residents seeking medical care.
He said state and territory leaders had made progress on streamlining patchwork border rules with a medical expert panel to define hot spots.
“When you have restrictions that are being placed on people’s movement on what is and what is not a hot spot, there needs to be a clear medical and scientific definition of what it is,” he said.
Queensland closed the border to NSW and the ACT on August 8.
Patrick McLoughlin, who runs Bad Fishy jet boats in Cairns, said the uncertainty of the ever-changing regulations was the worst part.
The already battered tourism industry is bracing for a $15bn hit if NSW, the ACT and Victoria remain off-limits until Christmas.
Tourism was worth almost $27bn to Queensland’s economy last year, almost two thirds of that from interstate and international travel.