Victoria, NSW Covid action forces Qld’s hand on border reopening
NSW and Victoria’s proactive approach to opening up is the reason behind Annastacia Palaszczuk’s border announcement, but there are tens of thousands of Queenslanders who must do their bit, writes Peter Gleeson.
Peter Gleeson
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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk might not take much notice of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, but her Victorian and NSW counterparts have finally forced her hand on opening up the Sunshine State before Christmas.
Make no mistake, today’s announcement was triggered by the proactive and sensible stance being demonstrated in NSW and Victoria. By setting out a road map – which allows people to live with the virus and plan with confidence – the southern states were consigning Queensland to being a Hermit Kingdom, a laughing stock to the rest of the world.
Yet there were some in Cabinet and Queensland Health who resisted an opening date before Christmas. Surely they need new careers. Queensland was becoming the very term deputy premier Steven Miles accused NSW of being just two days ago – a rogue state. When NSW premier Dominic Perrottet announced the NSW road map, and Victoria’s Dan Andrews followed soon after, all eyes switched to Queensland.
After seeing the latest internal polling, it became clear to Palaszczuk’s minders that the public sentiment was turning. Queenslanders, grateful to Labor for keeping them safe, had started to tire of the constant lockdowns and border closures. They had been promised rewards such as seeing family and friends from overseas and interstate if they got vaccinated, and were getting frustrated at the inconsistencies around border exemptions. The lack of empathy and compassion from Queensland Health had turned into a national disgrace.
The magical date is December 17, when modelling shows 80 per cent of Queenslanders aged over 12 will be double vaccinated. November 19 is the likely 70 per cent vaccination threshold but there remains much work to do in Queensland with the double vaccination rate still at just 56 per cent.
On December 17, people from NSW, Victoria and the ACT can travel to Queensland, by road or air, as long as they have a negative Covid test in the previous 72 hours. They will not have to quarantine, either in a hotel or at home.
For businesses and tourism operators, this is the best possible news, although Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate says the date is “a bridge too far’’ and many tourism businesses will go broke before then, the damage already done.
But it at least gives people hope. It allows people to travel to and from Queensland a week from Christmas and most importantly, it allows holiday-makers to book with certainty and clarity.
Confidence and certainty is what tourism businesses have been so keen to secure. The key now is Queensland’s lethargic vaccination rate. The fastest way to accelerate the vaccination rate in Queensland is to mandate all public servants to get the jab.
And the message is very clear – Australia is now a country of the vaxxed and the not vaxxed. if you’re not vaxxed, you might as well go and live on the moon.
