Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Thankfully, Australia has managed to contain COVID-19. States with closed borders, including Queensland, have done particularly well. We've contained COVID-19 by listening to our health experts. Queensland's Chief Health Officer, along with many of her interstate counterparts, has been clear: opening our state borders too quickly could lead to a second wave. That would be devastating for our health, our jobs and our economy. We all want Queensland borders opened, when it is safe to open them.

We all know what this motion is about. It's a political attack on a state government that is putting Queensland first. There is no motion today calling on the Liberal states of Tasmania and South Australia to open their borders. I wonder why! If the LNP actually cared about Queensland workers, they would oppose their own government's snapback of JobKeeper. They would demand their own government save Virgin. But this isn't about Queenslanders or Queensland jobs. This is a Greens-style political stunt. My Labor Party colleagues and I make no apologies for standing with Queenslanders to put Queensland first. (Time expired)