Coronavirus: Show us the science for border closures, Simon Birmingham demands

Any premier who refuses to reopen their borders must release the scientific advice on which the decision was based, says Simon Birmingham.

Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham. Picture: AAP

Any premier who refuses to reopen their borders must release the scientific advice on which the decision was based, the federal government demanded as it warned of avoidable mass job ­losses in tourism and hospitality if the border lockdowns continue.

In a dramatic escalation of the federal campaign to open state borders, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham told The Australian that every state should be ready to reopen its borders when it had been demonstrated that the lifting of restrictions had not caused a spike in COVID-19 cases.

He took specific aim at Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who on Tuesday goaded Senator Birmingham after he said thousands of tourism jobs would be lost if she kept her state’s borders closed.

“Simon Birmingham lives in a state that has their borders shut,” she said. “Go and talk to your own Premier in South Australia and get that sorted first before you start commenting on other jurisdictions.”

But Senator Birmingham said there was no commonwealth medical advice that borders should be closed, pointing to Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly’s comments that “we didn’t see a reason to close them in the first place”. “Once it has been demonstrated that all parts of economic activity can be safely reactivated without any increase in COVID numbers, then state borders should open up too,” Senator Birmingham said.

“It will be up to each state to explain their decision and the firm health advice and rationale behind keeping their borders closed.

“If they decide to maintain some borders and not others, or maintain complete border control, well that’s something they’re going to have to release clear health advice on. They are going to have to defer to their tourism industry and others who will face greater economic loss as a result of those decisions. The economic toll, the loss of business viability and the loss of jobs will only mount over time. The longer such restrictions are in place, the more businesses will come under pressure, the more jobs will be lost.”

In a fiery press conference, Ms Palaszczuk told Senator Birmingham to focus on the border in his home state, not hers.

“These are really hard decisions for everyone, I have sleepless nights, I understand people are hurting, I understand people have lost their jobs. I want to get people back into work as quickly as possible but if I don’t do it safely it could cripple our industry for years to come,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Senator Birmingham dismissed the criticism and pointed to Tourism Research Australia figures showing Queensland had one of the highest rates of people employed in tourism at 5.8 per cent while SA was the second lowest at 4.8 per cent. “Queensland has more small businesses across more regions who are generally more reliant on tourism than other states,” he said. “Queensland clearly has the most to lose from any delays to the reopening of domestic tourism.

“I don’t want to get into a petty fight in ascribing motives to any of the premiers. But I urge them all to recognise they are not going to see an international tourist coming into Australia for quite some time. The only thing that is going to sustain tourism jobs and tourism businesses is to get domestic tourism moving again.”

The sensitivities surrounding border reopenings were highlighted in SA on Tuesday when the state recorded its first case in three weeks after a Victorian resident who became infected overseas was allowed to enter SA on compassionate grounds.

Premier Steven Marshall said he saw no reason to open his borders in a state that until the arrival of that Victorian had zero active cases, while cases continued to be identified in the eastern states.