NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has lobbed another grenade in the ongoing feud with Queensland, suggesting Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is a victim of her own hard border closures.
Key points:
- Ms Palaszczuk pleaded for an extension to JobKeeper yesterday
- Ms Berejiklian argued open borders were essential for supporting jobs
- Queensland will fully re-open its border to Greater Sydney residents from Monday
Ms Palaszczuk has drawn criticism from both state and federal politicians after yesterday calling on the Federal Government to extend the JobKeeper payment for struggling industries like the tourism sector.
Ms Berejiklian let out a large sigh and shook her head when she was asked about her Queensland counterpart's plea for help.
"She is now the victim of a policy that she put in place herself," Ms Berejiklian told reporters.
"NSW has been so strong on keeping borders open in Australia … to prevent exactly what the Queensland Premier is now complaining about.
"When you unnecessarily close state borders you lose jobs, you create hardship, you impact people's mental health and wellbeing."
Ms Palaszczuk pleaded for an extension to JobKeeper when she fronted a press conference in Cairns yesterday.
"We really need the Fed Government to think about extending JobKeeper for these industries that are doing it tough," she said.
"There's about, from memory, 10,000 businesses here in the tropical north that are on JobKeeper at the moment and that's going to have a huge impact on employment, especially when JobKeeper ends at the end of March.
"We understand a lot of businesses are back on their feet but there are some industries that aren't.
"So what we're asking for is a helping hand during this hour of need."
Ms Berejiklian and Ms Palaszczuk have long been at loggerheads over the issue of border closures, with Ms Berejiklian arguing that open borders are essential to maintaining economic activity and supporting jobs.
Ms Berejiklian again urged state premiers to consider the impact of border closures on jobs and families.
"I completely support having strong borders to Australia," she said.
"But for all of us within Australia, we're all Australians and we should be moving around freely within our country.
"A decision you take can impact someone's livelihood, it can impact their health, it can impact their mental health and wellbeing.
"That's why in NSW we like to find that balance of keeping the virus at bay but also keeping the economy going and keeping our citizens moving freely and I wish other states would consider that approach as well."
Queensland will fully re-open its border to residents of Greater Sydney from 1:00am on Monday.
The ACT has announced it will lift all travel restrictions between Canberra and Sydney from 3:00pm today.
South Australia will ease its border restrictions to NSW at 12:01am on Sunday, allowing residents of Greater Sydney to travel to the state provided they submit to a COVID-19 test on days one, five and 12 of their trip and isolate until they receive the first negative result.
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2021-01-29 02:13:00Z
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