Prime Minister Scott Morrison open to Qld mining camps for quarantine
Scott Morrison is ready to take any proposals that could see Queensland mining camps become quarantine bases.
QLD News
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Returning Australians could find themselves quarantining in remote mining accommodation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison saying he was open to the proposal from the Queensland Premier.
It is despite some of his Queensland MPs voicing strong opposition to the idea.
He also left open the potential for JobKeeper or a similar program to be extended beyond March for certain industries like tourism.
But he said domestic tourism would have to do the heavy lifting as he urged Australians to get out and see more of their own country.
The Prime Minister was in Quilpie as part of a four-day regional Queensland blitz.
Mr Morrison said he had not seen a proposal from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk yet, but looked forward to the discussion.
“I’m very open to these sorts of ideas,” he said.
“I’ll hear the proposal and we’ll go from there.
“I’ve always been very interested in positive proposals that have come forward from premiers about how we can best manage what are very challenging issues.”
He compared it to the arrangement in the Northern Territory where the Howard Springs facility has been used for numerous repatriation flights.
Mr Morrison said he would not speculate about any programs which could replace the JobKeeper wage subsidy when it ends in March.
“Where we need to make targeted investments, commensurate with the challenge, we will look at those as we go forward,” he said.
“We won’t make any commitments ahead of any time that they are needed.”
He said 450,000 businesses had come off JobKeeper since September when it was first scaled back and no longer needed it.
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