Qld border: Premier refuses to rule out more border closures despite new plan to reopen the state

Annastacia Palaszczuk has sidestepped direct questions on whether there would be any more state border closures less than a day after revealing her newly laid out plan to live with Covid when vaccination targets are hit.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has failed to promise there will be no more border closures on her newly laid out plan to live with Covid.

Ms Palaszczuk was asked on breakfast TV whether she could make the promise, but did not give a straight answer.

Speaking to ABC 24, she was asked: “Can you promise us no more border closures?”

“Well, as part of the national plan we will be all working together in the interests of our state and the interests of the nation and what is encouraging to me is the high vaccination rates in both NSW and Victoria,” the Premier replied.

“So is that a no? No more border closures?,” ABC’s Lisa Millar asked again.

Ms Palaszczuk said: “We hope there’s not.”

“But, you know, we have to work to the national plan and that’s exactly our intention.”

Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk at the Qld/NSW border crossing at Griffith Street Coolangatta. Pics Adam Head

Ms Palaszcuzk also suggested regional areas could be locked down for Christmas if they did not get vaccinated.

“We need Queenslanders to get vaccinated, otherwise I am not ruling out lockdowns in regional communities,” she told the Seven Network’s Sunrise

“And the last thing I would want to see is a lockdown in time for Christmas because the virus has spread throughout these communities that are unvaccinated.”

She said the 20 to 29 age group in particular was lagging and needed to get vaccinated.

Ms Palaszczuk was questioned over why the state would treat international arrivals differently, with double-vaccinated overseas arrivals still required to undertake quarantine even when the state reaches 80 per cent.

Brisbane Airport Corporation has warned international airlines could shun the state before then, with the 90 per cent vaccination threshold “significantly higher” than national cabinet’s road map and other states.

She told ABC24 Queensland was not at risk of losing international travellers to other states “because eventually it’s going to come back”.

Ms Palaszczuk criticised NSW for ignoring national cabinet’s agreement around a home quarantine trial of overseas arrivals that it was meant to complete and report back on.

“We were meeting next month, and we were supposed to get the updates of that trial,” she said.

“And then there was going to be a 7 day home quarantine and the Prime Minister said he was going to send that to AHPPC to see whether that needs to be 7 days or 14 days.

“NSW have gone against what has been agreed to at national cabinet, pure and simple.”

Meanwhile, the Government has said businesses who lock out the unvaccinated would be given more relaxed restrictions in exchange.

She said that might mean unvaccinated people were locked out of events like music concerts.

“So what we are saying to businesses is that when we get to 80 per cent double vaccinated, it’s up to them,” she said.

“They may actually say you cannot come into my premises or you cannot come to a music concert unless you are fully vaccinated.

“The businesses will think very long and hard about that because they want to keep their clientele safe.”