LAST OF SUMMER WHINE
GC dodges bullet but nation fumes inconsistency killing our confidence
ANXIOUS Gold Coast business and tourism leaders rattled by abrupt COVID-19 lockdowns are joining a national call for a uniform approach to borders and lockdowns. Business and political leaders breathed a sigh of relief on Monday as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk lifted Greater Brisbane’s lockdown after three days of no community transmission of a super-contagious mutant UK virus strain. While the southeast has dodged a bullet for the final weeks of summer, the frustrated Gold Coast business community wants National Cabinet to develop a uniform set of protocols governing future outbreaks. “There needs to be standard dance moves agreed on by all states so that we can still exist when this occurs again,” Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce boss Martin Hall said.
ANXIOUS Gold Coast business and tourism leaders rattled by abrupt COVID-19 lockdowns have joined a national call for a uniform approach to borders and lockdowns to help the economy.
Business and political leaders breathed a sigh of relief on Monday morning as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk lifted Greater Brisbane’s lockdown after three days of no community transmission of the highly contagious mutant UK strain of coronavirus.
While the southeast has dodged a bullet in time for the final weeks of the summer season, the frustrated Gold Coast business community wants national cabinet to develop a uniform set of protocols governing future outbreaks.
Business leaders argue it is critical in preventing confusion and economic devastation wrought by sudden lockdowns and border closures.
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said the most recent lockdown had hit at “the last hurrah of summer” and warned hotel occupancies were expected to be down 2 per cent until the end of January.
“What we really need is for there to be a cookie-cutter approach to this because I am sure we are going to see further instances of it,” he said.
“There needs to be standard dance moves that can be agreed on by all states so that we can still exist when this occurs again.
“The real issue here comes down to business confidence and this is something which urgently needs to be addressed.”
State Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said a universal plan would provide certainty to travellers and traders.
“Every hour you give business to get ready is another opportunity for them to trade in some capacity and allow their staff to continue as normal a life as possible,” he said.
“Business need certainty and we will advocate on their behalf.”
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox told Sky News that there were too many precedents being set by the states on borders and lockdowns.
“We would very much like the states to get together with the commonwealth and come up with real proper protocols,” Mr Willox said.
“The quicker business can get some certainty, and some consistency, the better.”
He said Queensland’s targeted lockdown, in comparison with Victoria’s lengthy restrictions and SA’s statewide shutdown, was probably the right approach.
But businesses were “very unhappy” that premiers and chief medical officers decided to close borders at the drop of a hat.
“It impacts on business confidence in a significant way, it sends business the very clear signal that they are the poor cousins in all of this and they’ll just have to have to tolerate whatever governments decide to do with very, very little warning.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian agreed that greater protocols were needed.
“When you’re closing a border, it affects all of government, it affects every single citizen,” she said.
“I think all of us (leaders) can and should be doing better.
“We should allow each other to have input in those processes rather than being told of the decision.”
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the federal government would not “override” state decisions on lockdowns because it was not their responsibility.
Ms Palaszczuk declined to confirm whether the state would go back into lockdown if another new COVID-19 case was found in the community.
“It depends if it‘s from this UK variant, this is a whole new ball game,” she said.
“Let‘s hope that we don’t but what we are concerned about is making sure we don’t see the spread of this highly contagious UK variant.”
Greater Brisbane, including Logan and Ipswich, was put into 72-hour lockdown at 6pm Friday after a hotel quarantine cleaner tested positive to a UK strain of COVID-19.
The lockdown ended 6pm
Monday but those living and working in the region will be required to wear a mask until 1am on January 22.
The Northern Territory and ACT reacted to the news that Brisbane’s lockdown region had been lifted by immediately restoring travel arrangements, but state governments in Victoria, SA and WA have not budged.
Tasmania has also retained some restrictions on travellers who have been in Brisbane since last Friday.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said it was still too early to know if the mutant variant had been contained, with health authorities hopeful of finding out within the next 10 days.
Officials have tracked down 304 “close contacts” of the cleaner, with 154 of those tested returning a negative result.
Under the new rules, carrying a mask will be mandatory at all times when outside the home and they will need to be worn in a range of indoor settings, including public transport, shopping centres, supermarkets and gyms.
Traders largely reported a quieter than normal weekend as travellers stayed away and locals kept to their suburbs.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said the end of the lockdown was welcome news, but operators needed certainty to help restore shattered confidence.
“The inconsistencies in border closures are clearly rattling the travelling public, so we certainly want to avoid hard border closures in favour of effective hot spot management such as what we have just witnessed here in Queensland,” he said.
Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan praised the state government’s handling of the situation but warned confidence had taken a significant hit.
“We all breathed a sign of relief because Greater Brisbane is worth a lot of money to us, being our biggest drive market,” he said.
“Confidence is the big issue here and we need to get it back so people can make a booking and know it is going to happen.
“We need advance warning with these things.
THERE NEEDS TO BE STANDARD DANCE MOVES THAT CAN BE AGREED ON BY ALL STATES SO THAT WE CAN STILL EXIST WHEN THIS OCCURS AGAIN.
MARTIN HALL
“The federal government’s decision to bring forward the vaccine will make a hell of a difference and be a clincher for things heading into the future.”
The vaccine will start to be rolled out in February.