Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House today to thank the Premier of Queensland, Annastacia Palaszczuk, and the Queensland government for their exceptional leadership and response to the COVID-19 crisis. Measures have been in place to keep borders closed. In a new poll that has been released, based on 36,000 votes, 64 per cent of Queenslanders voted against opening borders. Thanks to the Queensland government, as of today there is only one new COVID case and over 895,000 COVID tests have been conducted. But, due to the current outbreak in the south-west of Brisbane, we are not out of the woods yet.

The Prime Minister and the LNP have yet again called for the borders to be opened. I commend the Premier for standing her ground against this, because health comes first. As the Premier said this morning, the economy cannot grow without having health under control. My message to the state LNP and the current Leader of the Opposition, Deb Frecklington, is clear: you keep the economy strong by keeping the virus under control. People's health needs have to come first. In fact, 64 times those opposite demanded that we let people with COVID into Queensland. Thank God we did not listen to them. Thank God our Premier was strong, took the health advice and kept our borders in place.

Queenslanders and those from nearby areas needing help will not be forgotten. I commend the Palaszczuk government for the work they are doing to keep Queenslanders safe. As a result, we can see Queenslanders getting back to work and the Queensland economy moving again.