Gunner’s borders closure scare tactics unedifying for a Chief Minister

IT is disconcerting that Chief Minister Michael Gunner chose to publicly post to his Facebook page about one new COVID-19 case in South Australia — and six in Western Australia — as reasons why the Territory’s borders need to remain shut indefinitely.

If Mr Gunner is serious about his ‘safety first’ stance, he should immediately announce border closures until at least 2021 — but we bet you he won’t. Picture: AAP/James Gourley

IT is disconcerting that Chief Minister Michael Gunner chose to publicly post to his Facebook page last night about one new COVID-19 case in South Australia — and six in Western Australia — as reasons why the Territory’s borders need to remain shut indefinitely.

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What he did not post was the stories behind those cases, which was that the woman in SA had been moved in from Victoria on compassionate grounds and she was already in quarantine.

In the WA cases, all six positive cases were aboard a live export ship which had docked from overseas and they were put into immediate quarantine.

None of the seven cases were acquired through community transmission.

It is these sorts of scare tactics which are usually spread by uneducated people on social media and it should not be the Chief Minister spreading such misinformation to scare Territorians in an attempt to back up his lacklustre argument that NT borders need to stay closed indefinitely.

Is Mr Gunner going to jump at shadows for every coronavirus case that pops up around the nation and continue to keep our borders locked, impacting the livelihoods of thousands of Territorians in the process?

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This virus will not disappear overnight.

The health experts have said that.

But the number of active cases in Australia remains extremely low.

The Federal Government says the borders are safe to open.

If Mr Gunner is serious about his “safety first” stance, he should immediately announce border closures until at least 2021 — but we bet you he won’t.