Business fury at decision on state border
But premier says call is not political
ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk has gambled on not fully opening up the state’s borders to NSW as she attempts to win over Queenslanders in today’s knife-edge election.
Some of the nation’s most prominent tourism and business leaders unleashed on the decision on Friday, which keeps Queensland’s biggest tourism markets — worth about $20m a day to the state’s economy — locked out.
The decision to open up to NSW from November 3, but not to Sydney, was made the day after polling by Newgate Research revealed a significant spike in Queenslanders’ support for border reopenings this week.
The polling is conducted by the research arm of a public relations firm whose director has been paid $190,000 by the Palaszczuk government to advise it on its COVID-19 response.
Late on Friday, the Premier denied seeing the polling, or using it to inform her decision, despite it being distributed throughout the government.
As some of Australia’s leading business figures slammed the government over the decision, Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young revealed her advice was based on concerns of just one mystery case in NSW. It was one of four identified on Thursday, with the other three linked to the mystery case.
In an unusual move, moments before Dr Young gave the address, Ms Palaszczuk politicised the announcement, saying she kept Queenslanders safe, while claiming Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington’s push to open the borders in July could have led to a Victoria-style outbreak.
The announcement sparked a series of extraordinary attacks from business leaders ranging from the chief executive of Qantas to a former surfing world champion, accusing the state government of “killing Christmas” and of standing by a policy that was “going to be a shitshow”.
The move to exclude Greater Sydney has disrupted thousands of travellers and more than a dozen airline routes into Queensland, with Qantas chief Alan Joyce slamming Ms Palaszczuk’s decision as “ridiculous”.
“Keeping the doors bolted … makes no sense from a health
perspective and it’s doing a lot of social and economic damage as well,” he said.
Former world surfing champ Joel Parkinson, who owns the Blackstone Cafe and Bar at Gold Coast Airport, blasted the border decision as “a joke”.
“She’s kidding herself,” he said of the Premier.
Askedon Friday if she believed the decision would improve her chances of being reelected, Ms Palaszczuk said she would only accept the advice of Dr Young.
“I kept my commitment. I am honest with the people of Queensland,” she said.