Queensland borders ‘stay shut until curbs lifted’

Annastacia Palaszczuk will keep Queensland’s border closed to NSW and Victoria until authorities in those states lift most of their Covid-19 health restrictions.

Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Jono Searle

Annastacia Palaszczuk will keep Queensland’s border closed to NSW and Victoria until authorities in those states lift most of their Covid-19 health restrictions.

Christmas reunion plans were plunged into doubt last week when the Queensland Premier said lifting border restrictions even when 80 per cent of Australians were fully vaccinated would be a “backward” step.

State and territory leaders have already abandoned a national cabinet agreement made in July to exempt fully vaccinated Australians “from all domestic restrictions” once 80 per cent of the population older than 16 was double-dosed.

Senior Palaszczuk government officials have toldThe Australian the border would stay shut until interstate health officials decided it was safe to mirror Queensland’s relative freedoms. There was “no way” Ms Palaszczuk would reopen to states that were still subjected to tough restrictions, one said.

“Why would we reopen to states that still plan on having pretty strict restrictions even once they reach 80 per cent?” they said. “Obviously their chief health officers do not think it is safe for a lot of people to gather even at that higher vaccination rate.”

Under NSW and Victoria’s road maps, 10 people will be ­allowed in private homes once 80 per cent of the eligible population is double-dosed.

In Queensland, where only 45 per cent of the eligible population is vaccinated, 100 people can congregate in homes, masks are not required outdoors, dancing is allowed in nightclubs and venues can operate at one person per 2sq m.

NSW looks to hit 90 per cent fully vaccinated by December 1, which is when nightclubs will reopen and limits on private gatherings will be scrapped.

Ms Palaszczuk said Queenslanders were “enjoying doing normal things” and the pressure on businesses was caused by lockdowns in NSW and Victoria.

She has repeatedly refused to reveal whether she would alter restrictions once her state reached the 80 per cent inoculation target, insisting she needed to look at updated Doherty Institute modelling. “Hopefully we’ll get that on Friday at national cabinet and the Prime Minister will release all of that publicly so everyone can see it,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Interim modelling to be released on Friday will discuss reopening the international border and how easing domestic restrictions would affect groups such as Indigenous Australians and school students.

Queensland’s chief health officer, Jeannette Young, told tourism operators on Monday to prepare for borders to be opened by Christmas, but she said deciding when to do so was “not a straightforward process”. “You can’t just pick something and say it leads to something else, you’ve got to look at all of the ­issues,” she said. “The more people who are vaccinated, the more likely we can remove those last ­restrictions.”

In addition to vaccine rates, Dr Young would also consider deaths, hospitalisations, the number of people in ICU and what restrictions were imposed by other chief health officers.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said most Queenslanders were happy with current restrictions when they considered “the risk of having to go back to that kind of lockdown compared with the fantastic lifestyle we are experiencing here”.

“No one has ever suggested that the border should be closed at Christmas, but what we have said is that it should be opened at the right time and that we don’t yet have the information that tells us what that right time is,“ he said.

“Christmas is still 90 days away, a lot can change in that ­period of time.”