Coronavirus: Lockdowns are unsustainable, Liberal MPs Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmerman say

Liberal MP Tim Wilson has warned hard lockdowns and border closures will not be sustainable if there are more COVID-19 outbreaks.

Liberal MP Tim Wilson.

Melbourne-based Liberal MP Tim Wilson, chair of federal parliament’s economics committee, says hard lockdowns and border closures will not be sustainable if there are more COVID-19 outbreaks in Australia.

Mr Wilson, the member for Goldstein, backed calls from business for governments to hold the line on opening up the economy if there are new spikes of corona­virus cases, given a vaccine may not be available for more than a year.

“The test for measures ultimately have to be: what is sustainable for both lives and livelihoods? Normally, sustainable means building up individual and health system resilience so people can best go about their lives despite risks,” he said.

“If we keep going through outbreaks, then lockdowns and COVID curtains around states will become less sustainable, compared to more sustainable alternatives like social distancing, venue capacities and masks.”

Moderate Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said the public had not yet adjusted to a “new pre-vaccine normal” as he pushed back against “untenable and unworkable” lockdowns. “We cannot operate a society in which we are opening and closing the door every couple of months,” he said.

“What we have seen out of Victoria is a desire in the community to maintain a strong suppression strategy … which in the medium term may not be ­realistic or economically feasible.”

As business leaders rejected hard lockdowns and called on ­national cabinet to maintain momentum in reopening the economy, Josh Frydenberg acknow­ledged that Australia was “one country at two stages”, given the situation in Victoria.

The Treasurer said the post-JobKeeper phase of income support would be “demand-driven” and rolled out across the nation, not just in states hit hard by COVID-19. “It will be governed by the same principles that have defined our economic measures to date, namely that our support will be targeted, it will be temporary,” he said.

The tourism industry urged national cabinet to introduce a nationwide framework to deal with future coronavirus outbreaks, saying cities could not keep going “back so hard” when community transmission cases increased.

Australian Tourism Industry Council executive director Simon Westaway said a nationally consistent approach to border restrictions and dealing with outbreaks would deliver much-needed certainty to his sector.

Restaurant and Catering Australia chief executive Wes Lambert endorsed localised responses to coronavirus outbreaks but said the broader Melbourne lockdown was “an unfortunate ­requirement”.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra said the industry wanted a safe start, not a false start, and said it was imperative retailers followed government directives to keep staff and customers safe.

Liberal National MP Andrew Lamming criticised business groups for protesting against lockdowns and border closures. “It is not up to business leaders to design this — it is going to be up to public health experts,” he said.