‘This groundhog day has to end’: PM gets set for lockdown showdown

Friday’s national cabinet is set to be a showdown, with the Prime Minister likely to use updated modelling to “hold premiers to account” on the national plan for easing restrictions.

Friday’s national cabinet is set to be a showdown as Prime Minister Scott Morrison seeks to “hold premiers to account” on the national plan for easing restrictions, with insiders saying a line has been drawn in the sand.

There will be a ground up approach, with the pressure expected to come from the public who want a pathway and clear goalposts.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday would not back down from her deputy’s comments that Queensland may not open its border to NSW even when vaccination rates hit 80 per cent.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Australia can’t stay in ‘groundhog day’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Updated modelling from the Doherty Institute is likely to be used to reinforce the existing plan to start easing restrictions at 70 and 80 per cent, even with NSW battling hundreds of cases a day.

The vaccination plan for children aged 12-16 and those younger will also be discussed at national cabinet, as it shapes up as the next flashpoint issue.

Seeking to fire up the public’s support for the national plan, Mr Morrison said “this groundhog day has to end”.

“There has to be a plan out, there is a plan out and we have to move forward with that plan,” he said.

“The national plan is our deal with all Australians. It is the understanding that we have with Australians making their sacrifices now, and who have made them over such a long time, that that sacrifice will get them to the next step.

“Because if not at 70 per cent and 80 per cent, then when? Then when?”

Mr Morrison said there would be those who would seek to undermine the national plan, but denied he was talking about state’s like Queensland where the Premier has been crab walking away from the deal.

The reinvigorated Prime Minister’s fired up performance has been welcomed by his colleagues, who had become increasingly concerned about his lacklustre showings, with premiers having kept him on the ropes in recent weeks.

Cases continued to rise across the country, with NSW recording 818 cases in a day, Victoria and the ACT remaining in lockdown and even New Zealand admitting it may not achieve zero Covid under the Delta strain of Covid.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urged people “not to have the rollercoaster of emotions at case numbers every day”, saying that was not the most important thing to consider.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warns that the nation can’t live in isolation forever. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

“Every state is going to have to go through this transition, one way or another because once you open your borders, we can’t live in isolation forever,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk would not be drawn on how Queensland will open up once vaccination rates hit 80 per cent, saying we’re in “uncharted territory”.

Ms Palaszczuk said everyone was still aiming for the 70 to 80 per cent vaccination goal, but that there was also an agreement for extra modelling based on the current situation.

“They have commissioned more research because the goalposts have changed. it was premised on there being 30 cases in the community and now there are thousands,” the Premier said of the Doherty research.

She said her goal was always to suppress the virus and so there would be some limited and specified restrictions and lockdowns going forward.

“This is a book that hasn’t been written, folks,” she said. “This is uncharted territory.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the current situation was “uncharted territory”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Ms Palaszczuk said Delta was incredibly infectious, and the other concern was children.

“We have to get children vaccinated, especially in those high school years … because we know that it can be spread. This is a big job,” she said.

Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott called on leaders to “stick to the numbers” around reopening the country and slammed the “constant state of uncertainty” created by Queensland’s threat to withdraw from a national Covid-19 reopening plan.

“If leaders walk away from the national reopening plan or make the targets meaningless, it will cripple community and business confidence and send a terrible signal to the rest of the world,” she said.

“The longer we stay as Fortress Australia, the slower and shallower our recovery will be as we deter foreign investment and major projects, due to the lack of skilled workers; as we put a ‘not welcome’ sign up to tourists; and as we say no to international students.”