Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has come under attack from the Federal Government for questioning the current national plan to open up the economy without vaccinating children under 12. Government ministers are demanding that borders be opened, allowing the spread of the virus, for the sake of the economy. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has gone so far as to threaten to withdraw funding from states that impose health restrictions to contain Covid-19. 

We the undersigned, oppose these calls from Liberal government ministers to open up Queensland to Covid-19, and reject the calls to “live with the virus”. Palaszczuk is right to raise concerns for children under 12; in many countries where the Delta variant is out of control, pediatric ICUs are overwhelmed with patients and children are developing serious illness and ‘long covid’ symptoms. We can’t let this happen here.

We call on the Queensland Government to oppose this campaign to open up Queensland to the virus. We support the use of lockdowns, quarantine, and other health measures to try and eliminate Covid-19 if it enters Queensland, as has been done before. The current strategy of the government has succeeded in preventing spread of the virus and it should be maintained.