'We need to open': Scott Morrison pleads with states to lift coronavirus restrictions NOW after Queensland premier 'Comrade Anna' claimed lockdown HADN'T hurt businesses
- Queensland government says border closure has not caused financial hardship
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged all states to reopen borders for travel
- Business owners demand to reopen entirely following Black Lives Matter protest
- Businesses are rejecting coronavirus lockdown restrictions following protests
- On Tuesday, there were zero new community transmission coronavirus cases
- Two new cases diagnosed in New South Wales are both returned travellers
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has again pleaded with state leaders to reconsider hard border closures in an attempt to kick start the economy.
Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are still refusing to allow interstate travellers to avoid a potential spike in coronavirus cases.
But Mr Morrison said the priority should now turn to the economy - which is now in recession - after the nation recorded zero community transmission cases on Tuesday.
'We need to get planes flying around Australia and if you want to see planes flying around Australia... we need to open up these domestic borders,' the PM told Parliament on Wednesday.
He said Virgin Australia, as well as other airlines and industries, could only anticipate a rebound when there were more planes in the sky and people could begin travelling freely.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has again pleaded with state Premiers to reconsider hard border closures in an attempt to kick start the economy
The Queensland government has refused to admit the border closures have contributed to financial hardship for businesses. The response comes after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk appeared to acknowledge the impact her decision could have on the industry
Ms Fusco (pictured with two men wearing shirts which encourage people to sanitise their hands) said the industry is doing whatever it can to stay afloat
'That (must) occur for South Australia, for Tasmania, for Queensland and Western Australia. This isn't a partisan issue,' he said.
'This is about ensuring that our economies can open up and I have made this point consistently.'
Queensland's Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk argues her border closures haven't had any adverse impacts on businesses in the Sunshine State.
In fact, she is determined to keep them closed for as long as she sees fit, and is currently locked in a High Court dispute with several plantiffs who argue the measures are 'irrational' and causing them 'financial harm'.
On Tuesday, the state government refuted the claims in documents filed to the court, saying it 'does not admit' financial hardships are directly related to border closures.
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said he was astonished by the state government's defence.
'That is possibly the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard,' he told The Gold Coast Bulletin.
City streets are near empty (Sydney's George St pictured June 1) following the coronavirus lockdown
Waiters at Costa D'Oro in Surfers Paradise are simply happy to be back at work - even though they can't work at full capacity yet
The stunning development comes after Premier Palaszczuk on May 19 publicly acknowledged the impact border closures would have on the state's $12billion tourism industry.
'It has been heartbreaking to make tough but unavoidable decisions; for example, the decision to close our borders and place hard restrictions on the industry knowing they would hurt, while at the same time understanding they were absolutely critical to save lives,' she said when announcing the policy.
Ms Palaszczuk's refusal to open the border, against the advice of federal health experts and despite the pleas of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, has earned her comparisons to fellow Labor Premier Daniel Andrews, who is accused of holding back the economy by relaxing rules too slowly in Victoria.
While Victoria's Liberal Opposition has dubbed him 'Chairman Dan' - after former Chinese Communist Party leader Chairman Mao - while Ms Palaszczuk has been mocked as 'comrade Anna' by some of her critics frustrated by her uncompromising stand on border closure.
The New South Wales government released these statistics about the current coronavirus figures in the state
Nuccia Fusco (pictured left and right), co-owner of Italian restaurant Costa D'Oro in Surfers Paradise, told Daily Mail Australia she believes her business should be able to operate at full capacity
Mr Morrison has repeatedly called on state governments to relax border closures for other Australians.
'It's not good for the economy, particularly as we go into this next school holiday season. Those tourism businesses need that support,' Mr Morrison said.
'So those individual states, they'll have to justify those decisions themselves because it wasn't something that came out of national cabinet.'
Mr Morrison said he has never received medical advice which suggested closing state borders would be effective in beating the virus.
But he acknowledged states had sought their own medical advice, too.
Australia recorded zero new locally acquired cases of coronavirus on Tuesday for the first time since the peak of the pandemic, with two new cases in New South Wales identified as returned travellers who remain holed up in quarantine hotels.
While the milestone is great news for the nation, it is little comfort for businesses if it doesn't result in restrictions being eased.
Pictured: Demonstrators at the Sydney Black Lives Matter protest on June 6. While many of those who attended the protest wore face masks and used hand sanitiser, medical experts fear there is still a risk of the highly infectious virus passing among them
Nuccia Fusco, co-owner of Italian restaurant Costa D'Oro in Surfers Paradise, told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday night the lack of interstate traffic and gathering restrictions had crippled her business since they closed their doors on March 23.
'Restaurants should be working together and demanding change... I think that will happen very soon,' Ms Fusco said.
Ms Fusco hopes strength in numbers will encourage state governments to reassess current measures.
'I'm meeting with a group of restaurateurs and bar owners tomorrow to start a Facebook group to give us a voice,' she said.
Ms Palaszczuk has faced increased calls to completely reopen her state by the July school holidays to inject much needed funds into the economy.
'It's not good for the economy, particularly as we go into this next school holiday season. Those tourism businesses need that support,' Prime Minister Scott Morrison previously said.
'So those individual states, they'll have to justify those decisions themselves because it wasn't something that came out of national cabinet.'
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham also previously said the state was more reliant on tourism than most others in Australia, and would haemorrhage money.
In Surfers Paradise, the co-owner of Italian restaurant Costa D'Oro, Nuccia Fusco (pictured) admitted seeing the protests made her want to break the rules
Pictured: The restaurant operating at full capacity prior to coronavirus lockdowns. They are turning away upwards of 100 customers in a night due to restrictions
'Tourism businesses currently have no choice and no access to international visitors, and if we also leave them with no access to interstate visitors, then they're going to be bleeding in terms of viability and job losses for a long time,' he said.
Even though Queensland's borders remain shut, the premier has encouraged intrastate travel and on Saturday did not ban Black Lives Matter rallies.
Restaurant owner Ms Fusco explained that watching 60,000 people gather to attend Black Lives Matter protests throughout the nation - blatantly disregarding social distancing measures - was 'horrifying'.
'I was horrified. Three months of our hard work was just taken for granted,' she said. 'If this is allowed, we should be allowed the same thing and have as many people as we want in the restaurant.'
Instead, her restaurant turns away upwards of 100 loyal customers in a night because of restrictions allowing only 50 patrons at a time.
Ms Fusco said maybe they would receive more leniency from the government if they staged a protest.
The sunshine state was quick to lock down the border to stem the spread of the deadly respiratory virus, and has indicated it may not reopen for tourists until September
'I've been thinking well maybe the restaurant and all the other operators should do something, put up signs and have a protest day so we can have as many people as we want too. This does make you want to rebel when you see all these other people getting away with it... Why can't we do the same thing?' she asked.
Ms Fusco said she was set to defy the restrictions and allow more than 50 people in her restaurant this weekend, but her husband talked her out of breaking the rules, for now.
While she considered breaking the rules, Ms Fusco said in all honestly, she couldn't afford to pay the fine if she were caught.
'As much as I'd love to ignore the government restrictions and open for more customers, we can't afford the fine. I'm not even sure how much it would be but after three months of no money we can't afford to pay,' she said.
Instead, she said her family is praying the government will reconsider restrictions and allow them to reopen at full capacity soon.
'We're being far more careful [than the protesters]. We're sanitising and distancing... they should lift restrictions and we should get much more freedom,' she said.
The protest in Sydney was allowed, then banned, then allowed once again - and tens of thousands eventually showed
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2020-06-10 10:25:39Z
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