Open borders, urges Scott Morrison, as people’s anger grows

Scott Morrison calls for state borders to reopen to ease public anger against restrictions after the Black Lives Matter protests.

Scott Morrison told parliament it was in the interest of Virgin airline employees and the economy to ‘get planes flying around Australia’. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison is calling for all state borders to reopen to avoid a breach of public trust and quell a popular revolt against corona­virus health restrictions because of the mass Black Lives Matter protests last weekend.

“The events of the weekend have had an impact on the community and that is understandable, but we have to do what we can to maintain trust,” the Prime Minister told The Australian on Wednesday. “It’s important for state and territory leaders and I to continue to talk after the events of the weekend and to maintain trust in the measures that are in place.”

Mr Morrison told parliament it was in the interest of Virgin airline employees threatened with job losses and the economy to “get planes flying around Australia” and he hoped premiers would announce as soon as possible when borders could open in July.

“We look forward to the three-step process being completed in July and I would be hoping that at the earliest opportunity states will be able to indicate the date in July that travel will be open again,” Mr Morrison said.

There is widespread public anger about the mass protests of tens of thousands of people being allowed while businesses are being restricted to fewer than 10 customers, state borders remain closed, church attendances, funerals and weddings are restricted and patrons in clubs, pubs and restaurants are severely restricted.

Funeral directors and church leaders on Wednesday joined wedding reception organisers in calling for an immediate end to limits on funerals, places of worship and weddings.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said it was “really frustrating” for Australians who had “done the right thing” and brought COVID-19 infections under control with social distancing and limits on meetings to then see mass rallies.

Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, right, during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: AAP

He told The Australian the ­rallies were a “genuine health risk”. Four Labor MPs who attended Black Lives Matter rallies in Alice Springs and Brisbane on the weekend went into self-­isolation and were tested for COVID-19 after arriving in Canberra for parliament. The government denied pairings on Wednesday for the MPs, including Graham Perrett, Warren Snowdon, Anika Wells and Malar­ndiri McCarthy.

Greens senators Janet Rice and Mehreen Faruqi decided not to follow the lead of the Labor MPs by testing for COVID-19, despite attending Black Lives Matter protests.

Senator Rice, who attended the Melbourne rally on Saturday, said she would “continue practising strict physical distancing, monitor my health closely and get tested and isolate immediately should any symptoms arise.”

Victorian Liberal senator Sarah Henderson lashed the two Greens senators, demanding they leave the upper house and ­“arrange to be tested” along with the Labor MPs, given the sacri­fices of Australians who had missed ­funerals, cancelled weddings and closed businesses during the pandemic.

“It is irresponsible and selfish for these senators to remain in the parliament after blatantly breaching social-distancing regulations when they attended Black Lives Matter protest rallies,” she said.

The danger of the mass rallies creating a second wave of COVID-19 infections has delayed any acceleration in easing restrictions for at least two weeks while authorities “wait and see” if there are new coronavirus cases, but there are expectations Friday’s nat­ional cabinet meeting could offer some hope of an early easing of restrictions because of the low infection rate.

Mr Morrison, Mr Hunt and Josh Frydenberg all told parliament that Australia’s response to the health and economic crises was among the best in the world and some “like countries” had suffered death rates 10 times that of Australia.

“It is really frustrating for so many Australians who have done the right thing, closed down their businesses, observed the rules on social distancing, they couldn’t have weddings and tragically they weren’t able to attend funerals,” Mr Hunt said.

Australian Funeral Directors Association president Andrew Pinder said governments should urgently review social-distancing regulations in light of the protests.

“The protests provide the opportunity to look at the limits and to review what attendee limits should be and review what safe-distancing rules are,” Mr Pinder said. “Governments should urgently look at the limits with a view to assisting grieving families.”

The vicar-general of the Catholic archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Tony Percy, also called for a faster lifting of restrictions to allow more people to attend places of worship. Father Percy said the protests had “shown up that the governments have got double standards”.

“They are prepared for a certain section of the community to congregate and others to not,” ­Father Percy said.

Liberal frontbencher and senator for Canberra Zed Seselja told The Australian the rally of thousands of people in Canberra was “like a kick in the guts” to people who had made personal and business sacrifices. “At the same time as protests with thousands of ­people were allowed to go ahead in Canberra, we saw cafe owners down the road being checked multiple times in a matter of hours to make sure they wouldn’t possibly dare have more than 20 people in an area,” he said. “The anger is red hot in the community.”