Coronavirus: Annastacia Palaszczuk weaponises border closure ahead of October election

The Premier has signalled she will use the state’s border closure as a weapon in the upcoming campaign.

Our greatest resource is our people and our ability to work together: Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Dan Peled

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has signalled she will use the state’s border closure as a weapon in the election campaign, telling Queenslanders not to vote for the LNP because the opposition wanted to rush the border reopening and “put lives at risk”.

In a major scene-setting speech just two months ahead of the Oc­t­ober 31 poll, Ms Palaszczuk acknowledged her decision to enforce a strict border shutdown was “contentious” but necessary to “stop importing the disease”.

“There are now more active cases in aged care in Victoria than Queensland has had during the entire pandemic,” Ms Palaszczuk told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia event.

She said she could “cop whatever gets thrown at me — that’s politics” but critics of Queensland’s border closures were attacking ordinary Queenslanders, which was unfair.

Queensland shut its borders to interstate visitors in March, reopening in July to all but Victoria. Later, all of NSW and the ACT were banned.

During the initial shutdown, Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington called for the border to be reopened earlier, citing the impact on the state’s economy, particularly the struggling tourism sector.

Ms Palaszczuk used her “state of the state” address to attack the LNP over the issue, foreshadowing a powerful element of Labor’s campaign strategy.

“Our greatest resource of all is our people — Queenslanders and our ability to work together. All of this is at risk, however, if we change course. The LNP have said they wouldn’t listen to the expert health advice and would have opened Queensland’s borders,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“That would have meant forcing the closure of our economy — or letting the virus through our population; either way, that would have stopped the economic recovery in its tracks. I don’t want to see Queenslanders’ lives put at risk and I don’t want our economic recovery put at risk.”

Senior Labor strategists say the party’s focus groups show Ms Palas­zczuk’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis has been incredibly popular, and the virus is top of mind for voters.

“People are shit-scared at the moment about their household incomes and seeing what’s happening in Victoria, the Premier’s really popular — but we’re still underdogs,” one strategist said.

Ms Frecklington hit back, accusing Ms Palaszczuk of “blatantly politicising COVID-19” and not having an economic plan for recovery.

“The LNP was the first to call for tough restrictions from Victoria once the Andrews Labor government lost control of the virus,” she said. “As I have repeatedly stated, the LNP will always be guided by expert medical advice while delivering our plan for economic recovery.

“Staying the course means a repeat of Labor’s poor economic management, which has resulted in the highest unemployment rate in the nation and lowest business confidence … the biggest threat to Queensland’s economic recovery is a Labor government with no economic plan or budget.”

There has also been a surge in advertisements promoting the government’s handling of the corona­virus crisis.