Queensland LNP senator says border should stay closed for Aussie wages

It’s a subject that has split Australians down the middle – but one Liberal senator has explained why the border should stay closed as long as possible.

Queensland Liberal National senator Gerard Rennick says Australia’s closed international border should be in no rush to reopen because keeping foreign workers out led to wage growth.

As the country faces another year of closed international borders, Mr Rennick told Sky News’ NewsDay the Federal Government shouldn’t be pushed to speed up the vaccine rollout in order to open borders quickly.

“Even if we rolled out the vaccine perfectly … I still doubt that we would open the borders in a large way anyway because people aren’t ready for that,” Mr Rennick said.

“This idea that we’ve got to open the borders and let all the foreign immigrants come back in and push down wages and that, I’m looking forward to seeing wage growth actually come back.”

Mr Rennick also said he was in no rush himself to get the Covid-19 jab, despite the Federal Government urging Australians not to wait to get vaccinated.

Almost one-third of adult Australians say they are unlikely to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a poll in the Nine newspapers last week, prompting calls for a national campaign to get people vaccinated.

“I’m going to sit back and watch and see how it goes, that’s my view, I’m the 31 per cent,” the senator said.

Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick on Sky News.

Mr Rennick previously told news.com.au he was undecided about whether to get the Covid-19 vaccine, believing it was better to be fit and healthy to build immunity.

“You do know the median age of Covid deaths is 86?’’ the 50-year-old senator told news.com.au in February.

“So my view in the past, that is why I’ve never got the flu vaccine. I have always been of the view that if you’re fit and healthy you don’t need to take the flu vaccine. You get the flu, you build up immunity.

“I am not saying I won’t get it. I just haven’t made my mind up,’’ he said.

“It’s the same reason I never took the flu vaccine in the past. I never really worried about that. Having said that I’ve had doctors tell me they’ve had young people come in and die from the flu. Which was news to me.”

Queensland Labor Senator Murray Watt said the mixed messaging from Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Government about the need for the vaccine left little wonder why the rollout “is such a shambles”.

With LNP Senators like Gerard Rennick saying he’ll just “sit back and watch” rather than get the COVID vaccine, it’s no wonder the Govt’s vaccine rollout is such a shambles. And it’s costing Aussie jobs in tourism, agriculture, international education & more. pic.twitter.com/LCbrjuL6Db

— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) May 25, 2021

“With LNP Senators like Gerard Rennick saying he’ll just ‘sit back and watch’ rather than get the Covid vaccine, it’s no wonder the Government’s vaccine rollout is such a shambles,” he tweeted. “And it’s costing Aussie jobs in tourism, agriculture, international education and more.”

The tourism industry warned it would struggle to survive the wait after this month’s federal budget forecast Australia’s international borders would remain shut until mid-2022.

Business leaders also warned the pain of the delayed border reopening would be felt by businesses relying on skilled foreign migrants.

“It’s impacting (businesses) in a range of ways,” Innes Willox, chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, said after the release of the budget.

“They’re finding it difficult to get staff into the country. They’re having difficulty to get people in to repair and replace equipment. They’re just finding it difficult to move around.”

The Australian Chamber of Commerce said it was “vital” for the Government to begin a “staged reopening as soon as possible”.

Business groups have expressed concern about the international borders being likely closed for another year.

“Businesses need certainty,” the chamber’s tourism chair John Hart said.

“The sector hinges on a firm commitment to international restart, from generating demand to accessing skills.”

On Wednesday, shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers condemned Senator Rennick’s Sky News comments.

“Not content with stuffing up the vaccine rollout, now members of the Government are trying to stuff up the borders too,” Mr Chalmers told Nine newspapers.

“This is what’s wrong with these people, always playing politics and making excuses.

“What are workers and businesses in sensitive industries in Queensland and elsewhere to make of this incompetence?

“After eight years of attacks on wages, and eight years of wage stagnation, making a mess of vaccines is not a wages policy.”

Senator Rennick has also argued closed international borders has kept Australians safe, particularly amid the virus crisis in India.

“There’s much greater risk from India than what we’ve seen with state premiers shutting down borders over one or two cases,” he told Sky News.

“If we’ve learned something from the Indian thing it’s that the international borders is what’s been keeping us safe.”