Tourism minister says theres no advantage in politicising border closures – Australian Aviation

Image by Seth Jaworski

Border closures should not become a political issue as the federal election nears in May, industry leaders have said at an aviation summit on Tuesday.

The ACTs Chief Minister for Tourism Andrew Barr said that Prime Minister Scott Morrison cannot win a fight with state premiers over border closures, as states scramble to deal with the Omicron variant.

His comments were made at the first in-person CAPA aviation summit since the pandemic with other industry leaders, in response to a question about whether the election would impact decisions on border closures.

Theres not a lot of political advantage in trying to heavily politicize the closures, he said. At this point, everyones largely announced a timeframe.

I think weve been through that debate; the more vaccinated the community is, the safer it will be [and] the less politics there is in border opening and closing.

Minister Barr said continuing a relentless approach on encouraging vaccinations would lead to border closures becoming a last resort.

While Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged to end lockdowns and begin the process of borders being reopened by 80 per cent double vaccinations in late July, state premiers ultimately had the final say, which has remained a heavily debated topic.

Dave Sharma, a New South Wales MP said at the summit it is a constitutional reality that states have more control when it comes to borders.

I cant tell you how many people always come to me and say, but why dont you just override the state, or why cant you tell Queensland to open their borders? but the constitution is pretty clear on this.

He said premiers dont want to feel like theyre punishing their voters, as some states open up while others stay closed, but it is good competitive federalism.

Be in to win one of four family passes to Wings Over Illawarra

Sign up to our Australian Aviation email newsletter by Wednesday 24 November 12pm AEDT to go in the draw.

Thats how you want federalism to work; one state leads the way or starts to reform or starts to do differently, and other states seem to fall behind.

He said at a federal level he does not believe borders should be a big political issue.

The aviation industry has suffered greatly from border closures over the past two years, and nations across the globe have continued to disagree over whether they are an effective method to stop the spread.

The South African president Cyril Ramaphosa said the slammed borders on its nation as the Omicron variant emerged would ruin its economy and further damage its recovery from the pandemic.

But Mary-Louise Mclaws, an epidemiologist at the University of NSW and an adviser at the World Health Organisation said at the summit Australias approach to border closures is not wrong.

From a public health, pandemic perspective, closing borders works because while youre closing borders, you are then trying to get your community safe, she said.

She said that during the SARS virus, many argued the impacts of lockdowns and border closures on the economy was too significant, but she believes public health outweighs all other factors.

Start your very own aviation journey with Australian Aviation. Sign up today for as little as $49.95 and youll enjoy access to:

You can always rely on us to keep you in the know.

Join now and start enjoying all these benefits today.

Continue reading here:

Tourism minister says theres no advantage in politicising border closures - Australian Aviation