Coronavirus: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to create border exemption unit
The new unit will deal with ‘distressing’ cases of northern NSW patients being denied medical care in Queensland.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has ordered the creation of a new border exemption unit to deal with “distressing” cases of northern NSW patients denied medical care in Queensland.
Ms Palaszczuk firmly said she would not be moved on the state’s border closures, but said she recognised some families were experiencing a “very emotional time” at being unable to access their specialist doctors.
She highlighted the case, reported in The Australian, of a young boy unable to meet with his specialist doctors after having a transplant.
Tweed Heads teenager Sean Rice, who survived a double-lung transplant, missed a potentially life-saving check-up in Brisbane because of Queensland’s border closure.
Health Minister Steven Miles said there was a small number of people whose exemptions had either been denied or not processed quickly enough, and the new unit - in the Chief Health Officer’s department - would deal with the applications.
It would be led by nurses, doctors and social workers, he said, and would be set up by the end of the week.
Ms Palaszczuk said she understood it was a “very difficult time...and a very emotional time”.
“(We will) set up a unit where they can deal with these specialist appointments in a coordinated manner...it is a very distressing time for families,” she said.
Queensland has recorded one new case overnight, a close contact of someone from the Corrective Services Training Academy.
In the past 24 hours, over 6800 tests were conducted.
Ms Palaszczuk said she would not waver on her decision to keep the state’s borders closed.
“Queensland will continue to have our borders closed to keep Queenslnders safe, I’m not going to be moved on this, so the federal government can throw whoever they want at that...fundamentally the health of Queenslanders is my number one concern,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Mr Miles said the “vast bulk” of medical exemptions had been approved, and the number of cases “complained about” was a small proportion of those approved.
“We’ve said we want to do better, we’ve been discussing how we might be able to do that, how we make sure we have clinicians…providing advice more quickly to the chief health officer when that’s required, and that’s what we’re putting in place,” Mr Miles said.
He said he would accept if other states decided to close their borders to Queensland, given the south-east Queensland cluster, but he said it appeared to be “under control” currently.
There are 27 active cases in the state.
Ms Palaszczuk said she had not seen any documents or a written proposal from the Prime Minister about how a hot spot system – to replace border closures – would work.
“I’ll look at the papers, but I’ll not be changing my position on keeping Queenslanders safe,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“I’ve not seen any papers, or any evidence, about how a hotspot system would work.”
The Premier foreshadowed a fiery discussion at National Cabinet on Friday over the border issue.
Ms Palaszczuk referred to the recent Federal Court decision, for Clive Palmer’s case against Western Australia, that said “states can rely on medical advice to keep their borders closed, and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do”.
Frydenberg slams ‘cruel’ border closures
Josh Frydenberg has slammed the “cruelty” of border closures ahead of a national cabinet showdown this week and warned Victoria’s COVID-19 social restrictions were having a “devastating impact on the economy”.
The Treasurer is pushing premiers and chief ministers to show “more compassion” on border shutdowns and has called on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to urgently provide an economic road map outlining the state’s exit from stage four lockdown.
As new cases of health-related impacts on border communities emerged, Scott Morrison spent the weekend finalising plans for nationally consistent coronavirus hotspot travel restrictions ahead of Friday’s national cabinet meeting.
Following the death of Ballina woman Kimberley Brown’s unborn twin baby girl after she was forced to travel 750km to Sydney for treatment, new cases of northern NSW residents missing out on critical healthcare emerged over the weekend.
Tweed Heads teenager Sean Rice, who survived a double-lung transplant, missed a potentially life-saving check-up in Brisbane because of Queensland’s border closure.
Lee-Anne Rice, mother of the 14-year-old, told The Australian her son had missed an appointment at The Prince Charles Hospital on August 17.
“We got the exemption, but it was granted at 5.30pm and by that time it was too late to use. Life expectancy for children with lung transplants is six to eight years, and Sean is now five years post-transplant, so every appointment counts,” Ms Rice said.
Sean is one of 63 organ transplant recipients in northern NSW who depend on Queensland’s border remaining open to stay alive.
Susan Wall, who underwent a double-lung transplant at The Royal Prince Charles Hospital in February, said her team of specialists had also been forced to cancel her September check-up.
“I was due to go over on September 10 but they’ve changed all our consults to phone,” she told The Australian. “It’s six months since my operation, so seeing my specialists face-to-face is really important.”
Following the Prime Minister’s pushback against border closures last Friday, Mr Frydenberg said more “common sense” was required.
“There’s too much confusion and ultimately too much cruelty in the way that the borders have been closed. And what we need is more compassion,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“What we need is more common sense and it’s just inexplicable that a schoolteacher from Victoria which is 2km away from the South Australian border is deemed not to be an essential worker.
“It’s inexplicable that a mother can lose their child because of confusion as to how they can access a hospital in Brisbane.
“Those jurisdictions have got … questions to answer when it comes to the operation of their borders because what we can’t see is people being denied medical treatment.”
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Sunday refused to budge on her state’s hard border shutdown.
Despite Queensland facing its own COVID-19 outbreak and a new edict being ordered for people to wear masks, Ms Palaszczuk said the closure of Queensland’s borders had “been one of the most effective measures we have in combating this virus”.
“We know that people wanted to open our borders earlier. We would have seen a situation that’s happening in Victoria happening in Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
On Saturday, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro accused Queensland authorities of electioneering ahead of the state’s October election.
“Borders were put in place by Queensland and other states to protect life and in this case it did the opposite,” Mr Barilaro said.
“The popularity, mainly within Queensland, of having tough, strict borders is trumping common sense. When it comes to health, there should be no borders.”
Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said the state’s border declarations did not apply to people seeking emergency health care or those accompanying someone seeking it.
He also rejected claims the state had denied Ms Brown and her family access to medical care in Brisbane and said he found the attacks from political rivals “disgusting”.
As the clash over borders escalates this week, new Treasury analysis released by Mr Frydenberg on Monday will outline the economic disaster facing Victoria.
It shows household spending growth has plunged 30 per cent in recent weeks and that $12.25bn had been paid to Victorian JobKeeper recipients.
Mr Frydenberg also warned the states and territories to not allow the border closure chaos to hinder “economic recovery”.
“Restrictions imposed by the Victorian government have had a devastating impact on the economy,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“The number of Victorians on unemployment benefits has significantly increased with the impost of restrictions while numbers in other states have declined.”
Mr Frydenberg said Treasury estimates that in the December quarter around 60 per cent of the nation’s 2.24 million JobKeeper recipients would be in Victoria and would remain at high levels through to the end of March.
The data shows unemployment benefit recipients have increased by up to 8 per cent across Melbourne since Mr Andrews implemented Victoria’s tough lockdown measures.
To date, more than 200,000 businesses have received around $6bn in credits under the CashFlow Boost scheme.
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