Former Premier Campbell Newman weighs in on border with broadcaster Paul Murray

Former Premier Campbell Newman has weighed in on the Queensland border drama, declaring he would have opened it “immediately”.

BROADCASTER Paul Murray has driven all day to take the fight to open Queensland’s border to the blockade – only for Campbell Newman to say he needs to up the ante.

The Paul Murray Live host broadcast from the Tweed-Coolangatta border point on Thursday night, talking to local operators whose livelihoods are being decimated by the persistent closure.

Mr Murray has for weeks been advocating a border reopening date of July 1 as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to commit to doing anything more than a “review” in three weeks time.

Foxtel presenter Paul Murray. Picture: Jerad Williams

But former Queensland premier Campbell Newman, a guest on the Thursday night border special, said Mr Murray was being too reasonable with his July 1 date.

“I actually don’t agree with you,” Mr Newman said. “The border should be open now, it should have been open some time ago. If I had been the premier of Queensland now I can assure people, I would have opened the border right now.

“There is no justification now. We heard that weeks ago from the federal health authorities.”

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Mr Newman was premier when the infamous Broadbeach bikie brawl and stand-off with police occurred. Soon after that he brought in radical but hard-nosed Vicious Lawless Disestablishment Act laws that severely punished members of criminal motorcycle gangs.

On the controversial border closure, Mr Newman said: “I think Annastacia has dug herself a hole ... and she can’t get out. The Premier thinks this is about strength and leadership and conviction but it’s not. It’s about cowardice and arrogance and it’s absolutely brutal what it is doing to people trying to make a livelihood.”

Campbell Newman. Pic: Annette Dew

Murray closed his show with a direct message for the Premier: “Twenty-five million Australians deserve to share the greatest club in the world that is this country. We deserve to support each other’s business, we deserve to take care of each other’s effort.

“Every state government has done a great job getting us to where we are but they need to take the next step – the step out. I’ll settle for first of July. That’s what people in this part of Australia want, to walk from this side of the street to the other side of the street.

“Normal people matter. They are sometimes called the quiet Australians, the silent majority. What I know, they are is pissed off. They want their ability to celebrate this country ASAP. Do it – 19 days…bring the borders down.”