Enough is enough: Governments need to make call on Toowoomba COVID-19 hub

The Chronicle is asking the State and Federal Governments to stop their back and forth on this important issue and give residents some direction on the plans.

It’s been long enough.

The back and forth between the State and Federal Governments on the COVID-19 quarantine hub proposed at Wellcamp Airport needs to end.

More than two months have passed since the State Government announced it was in discussions with the Federal Government regarding the proposal.

Yesterday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk claimed her government had not even been given directions as to whether international flights would be allowed to land at the airport.

How is that still an issue holding this proposal up?

The Federal Government claims it is still chasing more information on the facility, yet the government hasn’t even indicated if it’s for or against the idea.

The State Government has questions to answer, but surely there’s enough information out there for the Federal Government to indicate to the public which way it is leaning.

You have to wonder how this process may have unfolded if both the Queensland and Federal Governments were on the same side of politics.

Queensland’s COVID-19 outbreak last month proved there is still scope to reviewing how we quarantine incoming arrivals.

The hub is undoubtedly a controversial proposal – you only need to see the community response and Clive Berghofer’s petition to know that – and I’m not going to comment on whether it should go ahead.

That decision is best left with the experts, and it’s time they started giving Toowoomba some closure on the matter.

Whether it’s for or against, we all want to know what’s going on.

But if the blame game on the decision continues, our trust in those decision makers will start to erode.