Queensland border rules ‘an outrage’, says Peter Dutton

Home Affairs Minister has confirmed federal authorities gave approval for actor Tom Hanks to return to Australia.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says Queensland’s hardline stance on borders is ’an outrage’. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Gary Ramage

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has confirmed federal authorities gave approval for Hollywood actor Tom Hanks to return to Australia.

Mr Dutton said Mr Hanks, who arrived in Queensland last week to continue filming an Elvis biopic, was granted approval from Australian Border Force based on a letter of recommendation from the Queensland government.

“Based on the letter of support from Queensland Health and based on the fact that the Queensland Government had, as I understand it, provided financial incentive for the movie to be shot in Queensland,” Mr Dutton told ABC’s Insiders.

“So Border Force will only approve Mr Hanks if he’s coming in under that arrangement. If he was coming here as a tourist, he wouldn’t be approved by Border Force.

Mr Hanks was tested positive for COVID-19 when he was in Australia in March.

Mr Dutton said comparisons between international and state border restrictions were “chalk and cheese”.

Actor Tom Hanks has returned to Australia after recovering from a bout of coronavirus.

“Somebody coming from the ACT where there have been no cases, having to go into a hotel in Brisbane for two weeks before they can see a loved one, who has a life expectancy of only one week, is an outrage and there’s no comparison to make there,” he said.

Deputy Premier Stephen Miles yesterday accused Mr Dutton of lying about who exactly gave Mr Hanks permission to fly into the country.

Mr Dutton said he did not have a problem with Mr Hanks being here, because the film he was shooting was good for the economy. But he said the actor should not have been given special treatment

.@PeterDutton_MP says ABF approved Tom Hanks to enter the country "based on the letter of support from Queensland Health and on the fact that the Queensland Government had, as I understand it, provided financial incentive for the movie to be shot in Queensland." #insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/HQs2p4CozD

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) September 13, 2020

“The other point to make is that Mr Hanks and his party have not gone into hotel quarantine as other Australians would have to. The Queensland Government made separate arrangements for that.

“The point is that Mr Hanks should be treated no differently than somebody else coming back, and that’s the basis on which we argue here.”

Mr Dutton was also pressed about former prime Minister Tony Abbott being granted an exemption to travel to Europe for a trade role in Britain, while others have been barred from going overseas to attend family funerals.

“We’ve provided advice to Australians not to travel overseas from as far back as January and February of this year,” Mr Dutton said.

.@PeterDutton_MP on why Tony Abbott got an exemption to go to Europe when some people can't leave for funerals.

"The Border Force commissioner has looked at the individual circumstances around individual cases and made decisions to
approve or to not approve." #insiders #auspol pic.twitter.com/9frWswmhNW

— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) September 13, 2020

“We’ve been very clear about the fact that we closed our borders because of the COVID threat. And we’ve allowed people to travel to see a loved one overseas. We’ve allowed people to travel for business. It depends on the circumstances. And in many cases, we have provided that approval. On the facts of Mr Abbott’s case, the Border Force Commissioner approved that case. And in many cases where people have wanted to go for funerals, they’ve also been approved as well.”