Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not “necessarily” open the state borders once 80 per cent of eligible people are vaccinated, saying hospitals need to be ready for a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused the premier of refusing to open the borders unless she is given more federal funding for hospitals.
Ms Palaszczuk denies that, noting every state and territory health minister had last week jointly signed a letter raising health funding issues with the federal government.
“We want to make sure that our hospitals are getting ready,” she told reporters on Tuesday.
“You only have to see what’s happening in NSW and Victoria … the huge pressure that the staff are going to be under, and they’re constantly under this pressure.
“When we do have a large outbreak of Delta in this state there’s going to be added pressure, and that’s not just happening in Australia, it’s happening across the globe. These are unprecedented times.”
Queensland hospitals are already facing huge capacity pressures without a large virus outbreak in the state.
The Australian reported on Tuesday there were 31 ‘code yellows’ – when hospitals start to run out of beds and ambulances are forced to divert to other emergency departments – in September.
The state Liberal National Party has also revealed new Queensland Health data showing 60 per cent of patients spend more than 30 minutes ‘ramping’, or waiting in the back of ambulances to be treated.
“The government’s had 18 months to get our hospitals ready for coronavirus,” LNP leader David Crisafulli said.
“The Queensland health crisis existed before coronavirus, before we even knew what it was.”
Ms Palaszczuk said opening the borders was not solely tied to federal health funding and would not be automatic once 80 per cent of eligible Queenslanders were fully vaccinated.
“Not necessarily, it depends on the situation of the day. It depends on what’s happening in NSW and Victoria. So we are watching all of those issues very closely,” she said.
Mr Morrison earlier said there was already enough federal funding for state hospitals and that the premier was trying to use the border closure to “extort” more cash.
“She has to take that up with the Queensland people then,” he told Nine Network on Tuesday morning.
“To go down this point and say: ‘Well, you know, I’m going to hold the federal government to ransom and seek to extort from them money on the basis of COVID’ – I just don’t think is the right way to go.”
The Commonwealth had contributed to half the cost of propping up state and territory health systems against COVID-19, Mr Morrison said, a commitment which totalled about $30 billion nationwide.
“Of course there are challenges, but as a state government they’ve got to be responsible for their state health system,” Mr Morrison said.
“NSW is getting on with it, so are Victoria and the ACT, so Queensland needs to get on with it.”
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D’Ath stressed the request for fresh talks on federal funding for state hospitals was a joint proposal from all states and territories, not just Queensland.
It was incorrect for the prime minister to categorise the health funding debate as a Queensland issue, she said.
“This is a national conversation, it’s not a fight between the Commonwealth and Queensland,” Ms D’Ath said.
“It is every single state and territory, saying that our health system was under extensive pressure and demand prior to COVID that required a rethink In the funding model going forward.”
AAP
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