Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk apologises for NRL WAGS flight

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has issued a public apology for an unpopular policy blunder while hitting back at “attacks” from state and federal leaders.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has issued a public apology for allowing NRL players and their families into Queensland while closing the border to returning residents and urgent interstate travellers.

However, the Queensland Premier hit back at federal and state counterparts who criticised her border policies in recent days.

On Friday morning, Ms Palaszczuk admitted it “wasn’t right” to allow the families of rugby league players across the state while returning residents were barred.

“They were outside the cap, but I can understand that Queenslanders could see that in the light of when we were actually trying to reduce the number of people coming in ... it was not the right look,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“Because we had the pause, we should not have had anyone come in.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has hit back at criticism of her Covid policies. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

She added that without allowing the players and their families in, the NRL wouldn’t be going ahead.

The premier also hit back at federal and state leaders who criticised her Covid policies.

“Rather than picking fights and attacks, let’s have a decent educated conversation … it is not about being against a national plan,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I want to preserve our lifestyle. I want to see Queensland as being kept safe,” she added.

Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles lashed the prime minister and federal ministers for “attacking Queensland” over the hard border closure and its refusal to commit to reopening.

“We haven’t seen a pile-on like that since before the state election last year, not one of them mentioned the outbreak in Sydney,” Mr Miles said.

“It’s as though Queensland is somehow responsible for the NSW outbreak - it’s clear the prime minister has both eyes on his own election, and no eyes on the outbreak ripping through Sydney right now.”

Earlier it was revealed Ms Palaszczuk’s own party has distanced itself from the premier after she came under fire for her hard border closure and “damaging public confidence” by misquoting Covid-19 death rate modelling.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles on Friday said it was important all states were on the same page about the path out of Covid-19, emphasising Federal Labor supported the Doherty Institute modelling which underpins the Prime Minister’s national plan.

When asked whether he was on the same page as Ms Palaszczuk, he appeared to take a swipe at her, telling Nine News: “I would be distancing myself from the comments of Annastacia, is the honest answer.”
He said while he understood the reason the premier wanted to keep the Delta strain out of Queensland, it was important Scott Morrison got the nation on the same page in National Cabinet on Friday.

“We don’t want to be spending an extra day in lockdown. But at the end of the day, you know, you can understand why states that don’t have Covid want to stay in that situation. And we need to see the Prime Minister actually getting the country on a plan, on the same page, so we get to the other side of this,” he said.

The comments come after Ms Palaszczuk misinterpreted modelling by the Doherty Institute on Thursday, claiming there would be 80 deaths a day, six months after Australia reopens at 70 per cent vaccination, attracting criticism from Health Minister Greg Hunt.

“Selectively misusing the Doherty modelling breaches good faith and damages public confidence,” he said.

Ms Palaszczuk’s claim ­assumed Australia never achieved a vaccination rate above 70 per cent, had minimal restrictions and only partially effective contact tracing and isolation for at least six months.

In reality, Australia’s nat­ional plan only moves to significant reopening at 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, while restrictions may still come and go.

Under this scenario, the Doherty Institute suggests there would be about 980 deaths in the first six months — about five per day.

Little Memphis Francis, 3, will finally be allowed to return home to Queensland. Picture: Ginette Guidolin

Following mass public outcry, Ms Palaszczuk also had to backtrack on a decision to block Queenslanders from their own state, announcing just 50-people would be allowed into hotel quarantine.

She also backflipped on a decision to block three-year-old boy Memphis Francis from returning home to his parents in Queensland from NSW after a mass public outcry.

And in bizarre scenes, border town residents in NSW and Queensland have swarmed to the makeshift barriers dividing the two states, passing supplies, sharing hugs and ­offering assurances to family members trapped on either side.

Family members hug and at the NSW-Queensland border.

Cassie Potts gives her dad Bob Potts a big cuddle. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Ms Palaszczuk also doubled down on her claim young children under 12 would be at risk of Covid-19 if she reopened her state before they were vaccinated.

That’s despite Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly saying there was currently no vaccine available in the world for this age group, and that all the data showed they were far less impacted by serious Covid-19 disease.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

Meanwhile, a charity flight organisation is ready to reunite Memphis with his parents in Queensland, after the three-year-old spent almost two months in lockdown on his grandparent’s cattle station in southwestern NSW.

He hopes to jump on-board an Angel Flight rescue mission on Friday, heading from Griffith to Hervey Bay providing health authorities give the green light.

On Thursday Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young claimed Memphis’ family had not previously approached her ­department for an exemption for the child’s return, but health officials had since been “able to sort it all out”.