Game on: let’s get back to business

THERE’S nothing like a game of footy to make North Queenslanders feel like life is getting back to normal.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a disaster for the Townsville economy.

Thousands of people have lost jobs and businesses have closed.

The main hit has been in tourism and hospitality and that’s why last night’s Cowboys game was so important.

Sure, there was no crowd there to watch the game but what it did was inject confidence into the region.

If footy can get back on track, business can too.

Tomorrow we will find out if Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has listened to North Queenslanders.

There has been a concerted push from business and the tourism industry to open up the North and include it in the Outback bubble.

If approved, the move will allow more people into pubs and clubs, making them viable again, and allow residents to travel to other major centres like Mackay and Cairns.

It’s important that North Queensland is treated differently.

In southeast Queensland the current travel restrictions allow residents in Brisbane to travel to the other major centres of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

North Queensland is different. We don’t have the high population density of the southeast corner.

People have to travel further to get to other major centres.

Sure, we all still need to heed socialdistancing warnings but North Queenslanders have shown they can do it.

The region is COVID-FREE and has been for a couple of months.

The longer we wait, the more jobs that are lost.

The time is now.