Media release

Pressure mounts on Palaszczuk over border closure

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk must act in the best interests of her state and backflip on border closures, Clive Palmer said today.

The leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party said Ms Palaszczuk was running faster than a Melbourne Cup favourite as more and more Queenslanders called for an opening of borders to allow the flow of trade and travel from other Australian states.

This week Mr Palmer lodged documents with the High Court, declaring the similar border closure of Western Australia as unconstitutional and said he would be viewing this as a test case for pursuing similar action in Queensland.

“By maintaining a lock down and closed borders, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has condemned nearly a million Queenslanders to financial ruin, unemployment, stress and family break-up,’’ Mr Palmer said.

“There is no time to waste with the winter school holiday break on our doorstep, where an influx of southern visitors could be the saviour for so many Queensland businesses on the brink of closing their doors forever.

“Queenslanders need certainty. Australia’s deputy chief medical officer and leading expert on infectious diseases, Professor Paul Kelly, says it’s safe to open the domestic borders yet Annastacia Palaszczuk thinks she knows better.

“There are no health issues that justify the continued destruction of Queensland. The Premier needs to respond in the best interests of her fellow Queenslanders by reopening the borders immediately,’’ Mr Palmer said.

ENDS