Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, exactly. I say yes, the Liberal Party in South Australia are doing it wrong as well. But there is a difference in Queensland. At this time of the year, Queensland relies on its tourism sector so much more in winter to get tourists from southern Australia, so the economic effect on small business in Queensland is far, far, far greater. Let's not make an excuse about what's happening in South Australia—which is wrong—to try and excuse the appalling conduct of the Queensland Premier.

We have heard that they have filed documents in the High Court of Australia denying that there are any harmful economic effects of this lockdown. Is this a joke? Is this seriously a joke? Do they have any idea of what it would be like to have a small retail shop or a restaurant on the Gold Coast, with your home mortgaged and everything on the line for that business, and hear these people saying, 'Oh, no, there's no economic harm'? What an absolute disgrace! Our Constitution is explicit. Section 92 and section 117 in our Constitution are explicit. They provide for free trade and free movement of people across the borders, and only in the most extraordinarily exceptional circumstances can that be overridden. Given that there has not been a single community case in New South Wales in two weeks, that exception is not there. Those restrictions must be lifted immediately. Instead of the Queensland Premier saying, 'I am going to monitor this on an hour-by-hour basis because I don't want to see that border closed for one second longer than is needed'—that is what you would expect from a leader: 'I'm monitoring it day and night, and the very minute I think I can lift those borders I'm going to do it'—we have the Queensland Premier saying, 'Oh, I might look at it at the end of the month.' This is appalling conduct!

That case is being heard before the High Court. If the High Court finds that the Queensland Premier has violated the Australian Constitution, there is no alternative: she must resign. That is why our forefathers wrote the Constitution as it was. They didn't want to see pettifogging state premiers abusing their power and closing down their state borders to try and get some type of artificial electoral advantage. If the High Court comes back and says that there is no reason to close down the borders and that it is in violation of either section 92 or 117 then there is no alternative: the Queensland Premier must resign, if that is the case. There are too many people in small business that are suffering unduly. Let's have concern for those people. Let's have concern for what it's doing to their mental health. There is simply no longer an argument for closing those borders down on health grounds.

Deputy Speaker Gillespie, I thank you for your indulgence on this, but it is most important. We've got to get this economy going again. We are going to have hundreds of billions of dollars of debt that none of us are going to repay. All of us are going to be gone from this place long before we repay it. We owe it to every Australian to get the borders open and the economy moving as soon as possible.

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