Petition to ground Premier’s Tokyo trip passes 70K as political barbs fly

As political barbs continue to fly, a petition to ground Queensland’s Premier from leaving the country to deliver the final pitch for Brisbane’s 2032 Olympic bid has climbed beyond 70,000 signatures.

And despite the trip coming under increasing fire amid claims of hypocrisy as the number of international arrivals are halved and quarantine pressures continue, the cross-party delegation of local, state and federal elected representatives bound for Tokyo this month is expected to return via the hotel scheme.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly defended her need to travel to Tokyo.Credit: Matt Dennien

Annastacia Palaszczuk will be joined by Brisbane lord mayor Adrian Schrinner and federal Sports and Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to present the now-completed bid to the International Olympic Committee after Brisbane was given preferred candidate status in February. A limited number of staff are expected to travel with each delegate.

The petition, calling for Ms Palaszczuk alone to be denied an exemption to leave the country and return via a “precious” quarantine room, was launched shortly after she reiterated on the ABC’s Q&A on Thursday her intention to stick to the regular hotel scheme.

Almost 40,000 people had signed the petition by late Tuesday but by Wednesday evening the number exceeded 70,000.

Data from social media tool CrowdTangle shows a number of hotel quarantine Facebook groups were among those behind the 900 shares of the page. The largest portion of total interactions – almost 1500 – was driven by a post from Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen.

Criticism was initially sparked last week after Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles blasted the federal government over repeat travellers, particularly those who were unvaccinated, effectively skipping around Australia’s closed international borders for business meetings.

While saying she supported vulnerable people returning home, Ms Palaszczuk also said the cap on international arrivals should at least be halved and that a discussion needed to be had about ensuring travellers were vaccinated before entering.

Shortly after the press conference last week, Gold Coast-based federal Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews appeared before the media to claim the comments were a “smokescreen” for the state government’s handling of multiple COVID-19 clusters, and that Ms Palaszczuk was “arguing against her own travel to Tokyo”.

In a radio interview with 4BC on Wednesday morning, Ms Andrews continued to criticise Ms Palaszczuk’s travel plans and the “hypocrisy” of also advocating for the halving of international arrival caps and taking up a hotel quarantine spot.

Ms Andrews said the Queensland Premier needed to “think very carefully” about her decision to go when she could potentially make the pitch through a video call instead.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has spoken out against the arrivals cap – agreed to by national cabinet and announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday – which has also been criticised by Australians trying to get home.

On Wednesday, the Australian Human Rights Commission urged all state and territory governments to increase quarantine capacity to allow more people to return home.

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates has said the Olympic bid will face “disaster” if the Premier does not travel as part of the delegation.

A spokeswoman for the Premier said the group’s travel had been approved by the Australian Border Force – which sits within Ms Andrew’s portfolio – because it was “in the national interest”.

“The Prime Minister has been overseas twice during the pandemic, as well as at least two other ministers,” she said. “They quarantined at home.”

Cr Schrinner and Senator Colbeck have both publicly backed the trip. Asked about the lord mayor’s own arrangements, a spokeswoman said he would complete the 14-day quarantine in a hotel.

A spokesman for Senator Colbeck said while the final details of his travel arrangements were still being confirmed, he would quarantine like all returning travellers and would not be doing so at home.

In a statement issued earlier on Wednesday, Senator Colbeck said securing the 2032 Games for Brisbane and Queensland would ensure Australia’s momentum as a host of international sporting events would continue.

He said he would also meet with his Japanese counterparts in aged care while away. By the end of next week, Senator Colbeck, Cr Schrinner and Ms Palaszczuk will all be fully vaccinated.

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