NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet says the Queensland Premier's decision to remain closed to Sydney appears to be politically-motivated policy created on the run, which will hurt both state economies.
On the eve of the Queensland election, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Friday announced her state would drop the border to regional NSW, but maintain its controversial restrictions for the Greater Sydney area.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet addresses the media, flanked by Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.Credit:Nick Moir
This comes as WA Premier Mark McGowan announced he was pulling down his state's "hard border" from November 14, but will still require travellers from NSW and Victoria to quarantine for two weeks.
Mr Perrottet said Queensland already had the highest unemployment rate in the country, with Ms Palaszczuk's latest border policy likely to exacerbate the problem
“At this rate Sydneysiders won’t be allowed north of the border until the Broncos win another premiership," Mr Perrottet said.
“Queenslanders must be shaking their heads wondering why the premier wants to do everything she can to stifle the economy. The Queensland Premier is clearly making it up as she goes along.”
The decision to remain closed to Sydneysiders drew immediate condemnation from business leaders as well as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who said the border restrictions strayed “beyond the realm of logic”.
“It is what it is and I suspect the election cycle in both those states has had something to do with it,” Ms Berejiklian said on Friday.
“It’s hurting families, it’s hurting individuals, it’s hurting businesses and it shouldn’t be the case, as Australians we should be able to move around freely and safely...lets see what the Premier tomorrow might say about that issue.”
NSW recorded no new locally transmitted cases of coronavirus on Friday from more than 12,000 tests, while six new cases were reported in hotel quarantine.
However on Friday night the NSW Education Department said Cabramatta High School would be "non-operational" over the weekend because a student had tested positive. HSC exams on Friday were not impacted by the case.
Ms Berejiklian said she would not hesitate to open the border with Victoria once she received health advice indicating it was safe to do so.
“I’ve read everything from three weeks to after Christmas but I want to say very clearly as the Premier that we will know after two weeks once restrictions are eased what the Victorian situation is and if the health experts give us the tick we will be moving quickly.”
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce described Ms Palaszczuk’s move to keep the state closed to Sydney as ridiculous.
He also appeared to warn that further delaying the easing of restrictions could have far-reaching implications on the state’s tourism sector.
“Keeping the doors bolted to places that you can’t reasonably call hot spots makes no sense from a health perspective and it’s doing a lot of social and economic damage as well,” Mr Joyce said in a statement.
More than 1000 flights between Sydney and destinations in Queensland were ready to be scheduled had the border completely opened, according to Qantas.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said the cost of Queensland's border closure was "monumental" and there was no reason for it to continue.
She said reduced flights between Sydney and Brisbane would have generated more than $1 billion for the nation's economy.
While NSW businesses may benefit from local spending as a result of Queensland's decision to keep it's border closed to greater Sydney, the NSW government said it was vital to ensure state borders opened as soon as possible for the greater good of the country.
Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said on Friday that, while NSW businesses could benefit from local spending as a result of Queensland restricting entry to Sydneysiders, it was vital for state borders to open "as fast and as safe as possible" for the "greater good of our country".
Mr Dominello said he hoped that after the Queensland state election that "other persuasions prevail".
"We can't stay under the doonas forever," he said.
Meanwhile, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it was "not unreasonable" for both NSW and Queensland to both wait and see how his state performed without heavy restrictions before opening their borders.
Mr Andrews said he had spoken to both Ms Berejiklian and Ms Palaszczuk, and it would be "unwise" to assume that the border into NSW would open until at least two weeks has passed.
Tom Rabe is Transport Reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.
Anna Patty is a Senior Writer for The Sydney Morning Herald with a focus on higher education. She is a former Workplace Editor, Education Editor, State Political Reporter and Health Reporter.
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2020-10-30 08:21:00Z
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