Christmas is coming, and the Victorians might still make it too, says Premier
Annastacia Palaszczuk defends Queenslandās once-a-month review of border restrictions, saying the cautious approach has worked. But Christmas is coming.
The triumphant Labor leader visited Springfield today, where recent storms led to the biggest disaster since COVID-19 was declared an emergency at the start of the year. More storms, floods and potentially cyclones are expected over summer, challenging the disaster management system that has carried Queensland through the pandemic.
But despite the looming wild weather, people in Greater Sydney and Victoria still want to visit Queensland, and for the Palaszczuk government to lift its targeted border restrictions. The biggest advocate for change has been NSW Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who has publicly criticised Palaszczuk for keeping the restrictions in place, with only monthly reviews, and now claims her Queensland counterpart will not even discuss the matter.
Queensland this week opened up to travel from parts of NSW other than Greater Sydney, where there are still COVID-19 āhotspotsā. While the number of airport arrivals and hotel quarantine rooms in use has remained steady, there are delays of up to 50 minutes on Gold Coast border crossings. Victoria remains barred.
Berejiklian claims she sent Palaszczuk a text message after Saturdayās election win to congratulate her and foreshadow the potential for a border resolution. While Palaszczukās office claims the border wasnāt mentioned, Palaszczuk inflamed the issue this week when she sent the message āQueenslanderā after the Maroons rugby league team beat NSW in the State of Origin.
Berejiklian is now threatening to poach Queensland-based businesses ā the NSW budget will be handed down next week ā and today said she did not want to talk about their relationship any more.
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Palaszczuk today said it was āmisleadingā to say Berejiklian had sought to initiate any border talks and she had not taken any calls from her NSW counterpart.
āIām always happy to speak to Gladys, she has my phone number,ā Palaszczuk said, noting that previous premiers had āa bit of funā and even bets for State of Origin.
āObviously NSW was a bit upset that the mighty Maroons won.ā
But in another sign their relationship remains strained, Palaszczuk would not clarify the nature of Berejiklianās original message: āIām not going into text messages ā¦ like, honestly.ā
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Palaszczuk and Berejiklian are due to participate in a National Cabinet meeting next Friday.
Queensland recorded no new cases of COVID-19 overnight while NSW recorded four new community-acquired cases and another five in returned travellers already in quarantine.
Palaszczuk reiterated she would take advice from Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young, particularly around the risks of community transmission, and review the border restrictions at the end of every month. She said nothing had happened to warrant more frequent reviews.
āThatās what weāve done since the very beginning, thatās what weāve decided to do and it gives people certainty,ā Palaszczuk said.
āEverybody knows that our borders have actually protected Queenslanders.ā
She denied media reports that she had flagged a tightening of Queenslandās borders, if NSW had more cases of community transmission due to opening up its border with Victoria.
Palaszczuk acknowledged Victoria had dramatically reduced its new cases ā it has gone a week without any cases ā but said there was a need to monitor progress as the state came out of lockdown. Asked if Queensland could potentially welcome Victorians by Christmas, Palaszczuk said: āWe could, if it continues with these really good results.ā
āThis is a very distressing situation for many families,ā Palaszczuk said.
āIāve got friends in Victoria, Iāve got friends whoāve got families (interstate). But you can only open up when itās safe.ā
Palaszczuk said todayās High Court decision rejecting Clive Palmerās challenge to the WA border restrictions āprovesā Queensland also acted constitutionally.
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