‘Inappropriate tit for tat’: Health Minister hits out at border comments
Queensland’s Health Minister has hit out at the “inappropriate … tit-for-tat comments” made about the state’s border stance, as the Sunshine State prepares to reopen.
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Queensland’s harsh border laws have been a trade-off for its eased intrastate restrictions, according to the state’s Health Minister, who defended the closures this morning.
Speaking to ABC Radio just hours before Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced that Queensland would reopen to NSW by December 1, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath hit out at the “inappropriate … tit-for-tat comments” about the Queensland-New South Wales border battle.
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“New South Wales need to manage New South Wales and Queensland will manage Queensland … There’s one thing I just want to make clear. The fact is that in almost any area we have lower restrictions than New South Wales,” she said, citing Queensland’s gathering laws and venue restrictions.
“Those are the trade-off. If you want to open your borders quicker than you need to have tighter restrictions.
“The tighter restrictions help us trace it and contain it but it doesn’t stop the virus coming in the first place.”
Speaking on Alan Joyce’s proposal of a “no jab, no flight” policy for international trips, Ms D’Ath said that was “up to individual businesses” but that the state government wants as many people to get the vaccine as possible.
Meanwhile, Opposition leader David Crisafulli called for the scientific reasons behind the state’s health advice to be released.
“I want to see the science behind the decisions,” he told ABC Radio.
“If that happens you are more likely for Queenslanders to come on the journey … adapt it into our lifestyle.
“If it’s just a ‘no, it’s going to stay closed’ or ‘no, it’s open today’ then people will quite rightly ask questions as to why.
“By releasing that health advice you’re then in a position for all of Queensland to say ‘fair enough’.”
Originally published as ‘Inappropriate tit for tat’: Health Minister hits out at border comments
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