A “ridiculous” coronavirus rule being enforced by the West Australian government has prompted calls for an overhaul of how states across the country are run.
Under WA health advice, WA politicians should not be in a room with a South Australian, despite being socially distanced, for more than two hours due to the risk of COVID-19.
But the measure – prompted by a coronavirus outbreak in Adelaide’s northern suburbs – has National Party MP David Littleproud questioning the relevance of the states and how they operate in a modern Australia.
“Federations are being tested and it is being tested in the middle of a crisis,” Mr Littleproud told Today.
“States are starting to become irrelevant because of the really ridiculous rules they start coming up with.
“It is more about parochial borders and politics than it is about commonsense. Hopefully National Cabinet will sort some of this out.”
National Cabinet will on Friday hold its 32nd meeting with all state and territory leaders, except WA Premier Mark McGowan, flying to Canberra for the high-level talks.
“Mark McGowan is not here because of his own silly rules,” Mr Littleproud said.
“A Western Australian can’t be in the same room as a South Australian for more than two hours. I mean dead set two hours, who came up with this stuff?
“In Cabinet we can’t even put Simon Birmingham and Christian Porter in the same room.
“The premiers need to start to lead, rather than try and have this political game about why they are not here for political reasons, rather than actually getting on with the job of leading our nation.”
Following National Cabinet on Friday, Scott Morrison said he was “heartbroken” that Mr McGowan could not be there for the meeting.
“We understand every state and territory has its rules and those rules need to be held up … but obviously miss our colleague and look forward to him joining us next year,” the prime minister said.
The implementation of state borders and the economic impact they were having on the national economy were criticised throughout the pandemic.
Quarantine-free travel between WA and South Australia is now expected to occur from Christmas Day after the border was shut following SA’s Parafield coronavirus cluster.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was repeatedly condemned for not opening her borders prior to the state election.
However, she on Friday announced Queensland would throw open its borders to New Zealand from 1am on Saturday.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiogFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9wb2xpdGljcy9yaWRpY3Vsb3VzLXJ1bGVzLWFyZS1tYWtpbmctc3RhdGVzLWlycmVsZXZhbnQtbmF0aW9uYWxzLW1wLWRhdmlkLWxpdHRsZXByb3VkL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMjMyZWZkMzkyMzI4YTFmNWJjNDA1MzI0ZWNiNWQxYznSAaIBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvcG9saXRpY3MvcmlkaWN1bG91cy1ydWxlcy1hcmUtbWFraW5nLXN0YXRlcy1pcnJlbGV2YW50LW5hdGlvbmFscy1tcC1kYXZpZC1saXR0bGVwcm91ZC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzIzMmVmZDM5MjMyOGExZjViYzQwNTMyNGVjYjVkMWM5?oc=5
2020-12-11 01:08:57Z
CBMiogFodHRwczovL3d3dy5uZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9wb2xpdGljcy9yaWRpY3Vsb3VzLXJ1bGVzLWFyZS1tYWtpbmctc3RhdGVzLWlycmVsZXZhbnQtbmF0aW9uYWxzLW1wLWRhdmlkLWxpdHRsZXByb3VkL25ld3Mtc3RvcnkvMjMyZWZkMzkyMzI4YTFmNWJjNDA1MzI0ZWNiNWQxYznSAaIBaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvcG9saXRpY3MvcmlkaWN1bG91cy1ydWxlcy1hcmUtbWFraW5nLXN0YXRlcy1pcnJlbGV2YW50LW5hdGlvbmFscy1tcC1kYXZpZC1saXR0bGVwcm91ZC9uZXdzLXN0b3J5LzIzMmVmZDM5MjMyOGExZjViYzQwNTMyNGVjYjVkMWM5
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "‘Ridiculous’ rules are making states irrelevant: Nationals MP David Littleproud - NEWS.com.au"
Post a Comment