Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Qld border comment will haunt Olympics plan

Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Government has blasted travellers flying in and out of the country – despite her own overseas travel plans.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been forced to defend her plan to meet Olympic officials in Japan this month, despite her Government’s blistering attack on travellers being able to fly in and out of the country for as little as a “business meeting”.

Ms Palaszczuk called for the Federal Government to put tighter caps on international arrivals during a sensational media conference yesterday in which she said Australia was facing a “pressure cooker moment”.

“There are a large number of people that are travelling overseas for business … and there are questions that need to be answered about why they are leaving without being vaccinated,” Ms Palaszczuk said on Wednesday.

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Deputy Premier Steven Miles also blasted travellers jumping the nation’s closed borders for a “business meeting” overseas, saying the “borders are not genuinely closed”.

His comments came as he confirmed an infected hospital worker in Brisbane caught Covid-19 from a returned traveller who was allowed to visit Indonesia “repeatedly”.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Deputy Steven Miles have called for new caps on people leaving and re-entering Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire/John Gass

Last month Ms Palaszczuk flagged her own intention to fly to Japan in July to finalise Brisbane’s bid to host the 2032 Olympics.

She said she got the Pfizer vaccine because she may need to meet the International Olympics Committee in person in Tokyo, if there were no outbreaks before then.

On Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk was questioned about her Tokyo trip as the state announced two new cases, including a worker at Brisbane airport.

“First of all if we are in a situation like this, of course I will not be attending,” she said.

“Secondly, the Prime Minister went overseas on official national business and the Olympics are official state business.

Today I got the Pfizer vaccine in the event I need to travel to Tokyo for the Olympics. Register to vaccinate here: https://t.co/4PFyE9EjOV

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 7, 2021

“Now, let me also say this about the Olympics: The one thing that is standing out for the International Olympic Committee is … a very, very high expectation that there is a federal minister there if the Prime Minister cannot attend, that the Premier is there from the State of Queensland, and that the Lord Mayor is there from Brisbane.

“I’ve said very clearly if I attend I will come back and do 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine, and I’ve also said that people leaving should be vaccinated.”

The Queensland Government has been calling on the Federal Government to reduce caps on international arrivals, arguing they were putting the nation at risk from Covid-19.

“It turns out the only thing that’s required to get a permit from the Federal Government to leave the country is proof you have a meeting in another country,” Deputy Prime Minister Steven Miles said on Wednesday.

“It’s not good enough that just because you can afford a business class flight or a charter flight you can breach our closed international borders.”

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said arrival caps would not be reduced and the Palaszczuk Government was seeking to draw attention away from its own failures in hotel quarantine.

That includes a mine worker from Victoria who was placed in a quarantine hotel with infectious guests in Brisbane, before travelling into the Northern Territory and sparking snap lockdowns there.

“We have Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is saying she wants to go over to the Olympics in Tokyo; in fact, that was one of the reasons she gave (for) her need to step up and get the Pfizer vaccine,” Ms Andrews said.

“She’s arguing against her own travel to Tokyo.”

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has snapped back at the Queensland Government’s calls. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Ms Andrews also pointed out Queensland allowed travellers into the state for work in film and television as well as sport.

“But when they have their own failure that they can’t manage, they’re very quick to jump up and down, try and blame the Commonwealth Government, and then demand that borders be shut down or caps be reduced,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk plunged southeast Queensland, Townsville, Palm Island and Magnetic Island into a snap lockdown on Tuesday after two new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 were detected.

Another two new cases were announced on Thursday – a close contact linked to the Portuguese restaurant cluster who was already in isolation, and a 37-year-old woman who works at the Qatar check-in counter at Brisbane’s International Airport.