Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Llew O'Brien, as you may be aware, Townsville will host the first game of the State of Origin. This is fantastic for people in the north. It's fantastic for the people of my community. It will do well with the footy fans—we're footy mad up there—but it will also do so much for our economy.

There's one thing that's a little bit concerning. We'll get 30,000 people in a stadium sitting next to each other, having a beer, watching the game, eating a hot dog, cheering and watching Queensland win, but then you can't go to the local cafe, the local pub or the local shop down the road because they're only allowed to have 50 per cent capacity. So there will be 30,000 at a game sitting next to each other, but down the road you can only have 50 per cent. That is not really fair for the local businesses who want to capitalise on these tourists, people coming from throughout the north and coming from New South Wales to visit. Why can't they do what the stadium is doing? Why can't it be one rule for all? I'm not saying we risk the safety of anyone. They do exactly what the stadium does: they have QR codes, they have sanitiser and they wipe down everything. Why can't we all be treated the same? Why can't the state Labor government treat all businesses, big and small, exactly the same?