‘Too much cruelty’ in closed borders: Treasurer
Josh Frydenberg says the federal government will not allow states to hinder national economic recovery as border tensions escalate.
Josh Frydenberg says there is “too much cruelty” in the administration of the closed borders, and the federal government would not allow the states to hinder the nation’s economic recovery.
Locked-border premiers are being shamed into opening their largely COVID-19 free states after the death of an unborn twin provoked new warnings from Scott Morrison that the nation faced “economic ruin” and a damaging “retreat into provincialism” from continuing closures.
The Prime Minister on Friday demanded answers from Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about why a pregnant woman in Ballina in northern NSW had to travel 750km to Sydney for medical care instead of obtaining an exemption to cross the border for treatment in Brisbane.
The Treasurer said on Sunday there needs to be more common sense in the administration of borders and that some of the restrictions were “inexplicable.”
“There’s too much confusion and, and ultimately too much cruelty, in the way that the borders have been closed. And what we need is more compassion,” he told Sky News.
“What we need is more common sense and it’s just inexplicable that a schoolteacher from Victoria which is two kilometres 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,” he told Sky News.
“What we can’t see is economic recovery being hindered by that very strict interpretation around borders by the states.”
Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles took an extraordinary swipe at Scott Morrison on Saturday, when asked about the tragic death of an unborn baby. Mr Miles told the PM to stick to his own responsibilities.
“Scott Morrison should spend a bit more time on the things he’s responsible for, like international borders, like aged care,” Mr Miles said.
Mr Miles said the border restrictions were “clear” that those requiring medical care, or support people for those requiring medical care, were allowed to cross the border.
He said there was “no border” that would prevent health care workers from “saving lives” and that he would write to the NSW Health Minister to ensure NSW hospitals were aware of the rule.
Queensland opposition leader Deb Frecklington also criticised the government over the tragedy, but Mr Miles said it was a “private matter”.
“I want to say a few things about this case because a lot has been said about it,” he said.
“This last 24 hours, watching politicians use this tragic event to further their political arguments … it makes me sick.
“I can assure you we are doing everything we can to ensure these border restrictions do not limit patients (requiring care).
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