THE LIMBO MUST END FOR SAKE OF NATION

THE Premier has locked out rate-paying citizens. Many are stuck in limbo for work or on a break around the country, not allowed to return home.

The state government is using just 22 hotels for quarantine. It’s ludicrous considering the occupancy rate in Gold Coast hotels is at a desperate low. This move spreads separation and fear and pits Queenslanders against the rest of the country.

What we need is safety and hope. It’s time Australians joined many other countries and learned to live with Covid.

Lockdowns are not sustainable. The emotional distress and economic damage to our communities, especially at the border, is too great a burden. We want and need our lives and freedoms back.

Delta zero is unrealistic. Elimination has never been the strategy. Even through strict lockdowns in NSW, community transmission continues. Importantly, the report on Friday from NSW outlined that 103 of 117 people in ICU are unvaccinated.

Underpinned by Doherty Institute modelling, the road to safety and hope has been created through the National Plan. The Premier has agreed to it in principle, at national cabinet.

The first phase is well underway with vaccinations accelerating. One million doses have been administered in just three days, outperforming the US and the UK, per capita.

The second phase is where hope grows. At 70 per cent of 16+ double jabbed, perhaps November, certainly December, easing of restrictions will allow domestic travel to resume for our tourism industry, local businesses and those families who rely on it. Part of that transition phase will be travel incentives for those who are vaccinated or the choice to quarantine for those who are not.

Phase three sees vaccination rates at 80 per cent. Here, we’ll be able to live with the virus in our community. The new reality where international travel can resume will allow a restart for the international education sector on the Gold Coast. Arrival caps and testing will be in place.

In phase four, Covid-19 will be managed as an infectious disease like any other. Annual vaccination boosters will be necessary, as they are now with flu.

Australians have proven throughout history that we are brave and resilient enough to endure whatever crises we face as a nation. Queenslanders and Gold Coasters are no exception.

The most pressing question must be asked: Will the Premier keep her word? Can she find the stuff to lay down the political weapon of border closures that has served her popularity so well?

If she resists, the public will rightly ask why travel and Tweed residents are still being denied when we have done what we’ve been asked.

If we don’t follow the plan to end restrictions at 70 and 80 per cent to reunite Australians, and reclaim our way of life, when can we Premier?