Queensland Health Minister lashes Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s ‘unfair’ border roast

Queensland has fired back at stunning criticism from Prime Minister Scott Morrison over the state’s border reopening stance.

Queensland has added fire to an already heated relationship with the federal government by lashing Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s apparent disappointment the state had not committed to a national reopening plan.

Mr Morrison on Tuesday accused Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government of “shakedown politics” after it again refused to commit to reopening its borders when it hits a 80 per cent double vaccination rate, this time citing a need for more hospital funding from the commonwealth.

Queensland has proved reluctant in agreeing to a timeline to reopen and has previously expressed concern over the vulnerability of unvaccinated children, while also calling for updated Doherty Institute modelling before it makes a decision.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has roasted Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government over the reopening of the state’s borders. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images

But Health Minister Yvette D’Ath was not impressed by Mr Morrison’s latest barb and said it was unfair to single out Queensland.

“I remind the Prime Minister … this is a national conversation,” Ms D’Ath said.

“It‘s not a fight between the commonwealth and Queensland, it is every single state, we are saying that our health system is subject to extensive pressure and demand.

“Prior to Covid, that required a rethink. And with Covid now we need to see more contributions from the commonwealth, partnering with us 50/50 is only fair.”

Earlier, Mr Morrison launched an stunning attack on the Queensland government during an interview on The Today Show.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused the Queensland government of holding the commonwealth to ransom. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“We have been showering the states with money over the course of Covid,” he said.

“To go down this point and say ‘well, you know, I’m going to hold the federal government to ransom and seek to extort money from them on the basis of Covid’, I just don’t think is the right way to go.

“We’ve been working with them constructively. We’ve supported them time and again with joint funding initiatives. We’ve shared 50/50 the costs of Covid on the health system, more than $30bn around the country we’ve pumped into health support.”

The latest back and forth between federal and state leaders came as Queensland recorded two new local cases of Covid, with neither linked to the mystery Brisbane masseuse case that emerged on Monday.

Tuesday 5 October – coronavirus cases in Queensland:

1 new locally acquired case – linked to the aviation cluster and detected in home quarantine.

1 new interstate acquired case – detected on arrival in Brisbane. #covid19pic.twitter.com/WfuxPjWU77

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) October 5, 2021

One of the cases was a three-year-old girl from a family that visited the Gold Coast and was linked to the aviation cluster. She was detected in home quarantine.

The other was a 19-year-old woman who was given an exemption to return to Brisbane from Victoria.

She was detected on arrival in the Queensland via Monday’s Jetstar 562 flight from Melbourne.

Queensland on Tuesday also unveiled its new chief health officer – Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital director of infectious diseases Dr Krispin Hajkowicz.

Dr Hajkowicz will replace Dr Jeannette Young when she assumes the role of Queensland Governor on November 1.

Dr Young had earlier reassured the state’s capital that a lockdown was not yet necessary despite the discovery of the mystery case on Monday who was infectious in the community for 10 days.

The 55-year-old woman from Fitzgibbon was behind a slew of new exposure sites across Brisbane’s north, including supermarkets, cafes, and six massage businesses where she worked.

There are 26 active cases of Covid-19 in Queensland after three new cases announced on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Dr Young on Tuesday said a recent spike in testing – and the infected woman being fully vaccinated and her household contacts returning negative tests – had given her some comfort even after previously stating one unlinked case could be enough to force the state to lock down.

She said the government was still working through the QR codes, businesses, and contacts the woman may have come across but was heartened by the 112,000 tests carried out since the emergence of the aviation cluster.