Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On a somewhat sombre note, with Queensland announcing $130 billion debt today, it's of some concern that we live in a state that not only didn't pull its weight with COVID, but failed to increase its hotel caps to a level to allow Queenslanders to return. So today I'm calling on the Queensland Premier to allow Queenslanders, particularly from my electorate, to quarantine in my electorate. I have the members for Moncrieff and Brisbane, here on my right, who have citizens quarantining in their electorates. When Annastacia Palaszczuk effectively, figuratively, mugged the Prime Minister with her 500-per-week cap back on 6 July on this notion that a great state like Queensland couldn't handle more than 500 people a week flying into an airport, we were compelled to agree, of course. This was no solitary effort; this was a group mugging by premiers.

When the Victorian Premier shut down Tullamarine, responsible for 27 per cent of arrivals in Australia, what did the other premiers do? Did they say, 'Let's work as a federation and work together cooperatively and support our Victorian mates in distress?' No, they didn't; they went the other way—how little can we do to help this great nation? They came up with a curious cap, and Queensland has the worst. Queensland has around 25 per cent of international arrivals coming into Brisbane, Cairns, the Gold Coast. We came up with the smallest cap possible, just 500 a week. We managed to wind that up to 650 a week on 18 September. Now, I think, it's just over 1,000 a week. These microscopic numbers guarantee that Queenslanders are flying in at top dollar, business-class,. There's little care for them, because it's a fundamental reality: Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to get voted in and she won't get voted in if there's COVID cases coming in. So it was one or the other, wasn't it?

We know that Daniel Andrews let it out and that Annastacia Palaszczuk let it in. This whole same time, the ACT allowed Queenslanders to travel, even during COVID, down to the ACT and that is another Labor premier. They are all off on their own solo flights on COVID.

I'm calling on this premier now—the budget's out, the bad news is out, you got re-elected, COVID worked for you, you milked it to within an inch of its life and you got through—to let the others get through. Let Queenslanders come home. Let Bowman residents quarantine in my great electorate of Bowman, using local hotels, creating local employment. We're the only nation in the world with this embarrassing facade, preventing citizens from coming home. Some are domiciled overseas, some are working overseas, some are holidaying overseas. They want to come home, they deserve to come home and they've got a Labor opposition doing nothing to facilitate it.

Opposition Member:

An opposition member interjecting—

Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You've got the number to your mate, Mark. You've got the disaster Dan. You've got the number for your pal Anna. Phone up the Labor premiers. They are the worst-behaved premiers when it comes to aviation caps. I'm calling on the Queensland Premier to increase those caps and to bring those Queenslanders home for Christmas.