Peter Gleeson: Curve flattened but border closure still an opportunity lost

Annastacia Palaszczuk worked around the clock to ensure we were protected when COVID-19 arrived. She handled that period brilliantly and of all the national leaders, nobody worked harder to protect us. But then she wasted a golden opportunity, writes Peter Gleeson.

IN all the border madness, the over-riding emotion – other than anger – is that this has been an opportunity wasted for Queensland.

In the depths of despair in early March, as we bunkered down for a long and arduous winter of hibernation, never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined the extraordinary way Australia “flattened the curve’’ on coronavirus deaths and cases.

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Dodged a bullet. Yes. Lucky. Yes. Reward for being disciplined and following the government’s advice. Absolutely.

In Queensland we just about did better than everybody else. We were a standout performer in a standout nation.

It is during these times of enormous stress and uncertainty that we place even greater trust in our political leaders.

In Queensland, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk worked around the clock to ensure we were protected, her reassuring face giving us nightly updates on numbers and the measures needed to keep safe.

She handled that period brilliantly and of all the national leaders, nobody worked harder to protect us and that is borne out by the low number of active cases right now and a spike in the premier’s personal popularity.

But then something happened. It was as if she’d been kidnapped by aliens and a special “risk averse’’ chip was implanted.

Far from showing the leadership we admired to stave off a death plague, Ms Palaszczuk has stubbornly, inexplicably refused to budge on opening up the borders to interstate visitors.

The net effect is that she’s single-handedly killing tourism. It’s all so unnecessary. July 10 might as well be January next year for hard-bitten tourism operators. The worst part has been the uncertainty. How can a business plan for its future when the government can’t provide a date?

The premier says she’s relying on medical advice. Show us the advice. The best medical advice in the country on a pandemic comes from Professor Paul Kelly, the Commonwealth’s deputy chief medical officer.

Prof Kelly is not just Australia’s most foremost expert on infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics but he’s regarded among the top half a dozen in the world.

He says the borders should never have been closed.

The Queensland border closure has been a major bone of contention. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

So at a time when the OECD has said publicly that Australia will be among the top three or four countries in the world to fiscally rebound from this pandemic, the Queensland Government is putting a handbrake on our economy, especially tourism.

It’s the difference between some tourist operators surviving or having to forever close their doors.

At a time when the Queensland business community is crying out for innovative, courageous leadership, Ms Palaszczuk has gone missing in action.

No wonder our economy has fallen behind the other states. If this government’s lack of fortitude on decision-making during this pandemic is a reflection of its moribund attitude since 2015, you can see why we’re the worst performing fiscal state.

The OECD believes Australia needs to reform tax, the labour force, regulation and competition. It says only China, South Korea and Indonesia will rebound more quickly from the pandemic.

Australia’s economy will rebound by 4.1 per cent in 2021 if the virus is kept under control and there is no second wave.

OECD boss Laurence Boon says “extraordinary policies will be required to walk the tightrope towards recovery’’.

“Governments must seize this opportunity to engineer a fairer more sustainable economy, making regulation and competition smarter, modernising government taxes, spending and social protection,’’ he said.

In other words, the OECD believes reforming Australia’s company comes back to political leaders throwing the rule book out and providing incentives to business to get back up and running.

Putting tourism into a sleeper hold over winter is not the type of policy we need. People want money in their pocket. They want to spend, invest, get back to normal. They want councils to free up big projects.

Tens of billions of dollars worth of construction projects with the potential to create thousands of jobs are caught up in red and green tape within councils.

In Queensland, there’s a perfectly legitimate development ready to go at Cleveland - a $2 billion project – stuck in bureaucracy because some locals don’t want it.

The Property Council says Australia is going to need local government to change the way it approves projects.

Let’s approve projects and put the environmental constraints in place once the project starts. If a developer does the wrong thing, throw them in jail. They won’t do it again.

The days of projects being held up by zealotry greenies are gone. Let’s get on with rebuilding this state.

As for the borders being closed, the horse has bolted. The damage has been done. Queenslanders are angry at the lack of certainty and clarity. They feel as though they’ve been sold down the river. Many have circled October 31 – election day - in the diary.