Queensland border: Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate blasts premiers over border war of words
A furious Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has demanded premiers Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian end their feud over the state border.
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GOLD Coast Mayor Tom Tate has demanded premiers Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian end their feud over the state border.
The premiers are at war over greater Sydney residents still being locked out of Queensland despite being open to the rest of the state.
Ms Palaszczuk has insisted no decisions will be made until the end of November.
A frustrated Cr Tate issued a furious broadside to the two premiers, saying their public spat was hurting the economy.
“It is high time that both Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian pick up the phone and stop trying to make out that one has not contacted the other,” he said.
“Throughout the COVID crisis we all rightly took stringent advice from the chief medical officers but right now it makes no sense that Victorians could be allowed to travel to Queensland yet greater Sydney could be locked out.
“If this continues the challenges of COVID on families, small business and individual mental health would be surpassed by the absolutely crippling effect these decisions are going to have on thousands of Gold Coast businesses.”
If Greater Sydney, the Gold Coast’s largest source of domestic overnight visitors, remains closed throughout the summer, it is feared the city could potentially lose up to 175,000 visitors, worth an estimated $225m in visitor spend.
Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan also called for the borders to reopen this week.
Ms Berejiklian was left humiliated last week after it was revealed she was ‘ghosted’ by Ms Palaszczuk when she tried to reignite border discussion, instead only getting a response when Queensland won State of Origin Game I.
Ms Berejiklian continued her war of words with Ms Palaszczuk on Wednesday, saying she would be “mortified” if Victorians were let into Queensland before Sydneysiders.
“I think that the goalposts that Queensland has set for opening the borders to NSW are unrealistic, and I just wish that they would act in a more compassionate and commonsense way,” she said.
“I think it is unjustified and I think it is spiteful. NSW has demonstrated you can manage the pandemic by keeping the community safe but also by keeping people in jobs and keeping people mobile and relatively free in a COVID-safe way.”
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