Border closures and restrictions on interstate travel cost Australian economy 5,000 jobs and $560million every WEEK - and one state is getting hammered especially hard
- Australia losing almost 5,000 jobs a week and economy shrinking by $84million
- Queensland is losing about $21million a day as its state borders remain closed
- State is losing a nation-high 173 jobs every day, new economic modelling found
- Tourism chief has called on government to re-open Australia completely by July
- Said shrinking economy would have dire impact on Australia's tourism industry
Australia is losing almost 5,000 jobs a week while the national economy is shrinking by $84million a day as a result of continuing border closures, according to new modelling data.
Research commissioned by the Australian Tourism Industry Council found Queensland had been hit hardest by the travel restrictions - shedding 173 jobs every day.
The Sunshine State, whose borders will not re-open until July 10, is also losing about $21million a day - the same as New South Wales and $2million more than Victoria.
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The Queensland economy is shedding 173 jobs every day, new modelling has found. Pictured state border controls during the pandemic on the Queensland border - the Sunshine State will not open up to foreign travellers until July 10
Another 168 jobs a day are disappearing in Victoria, the modelling by consultancy firm Lucid Economics found, while 165 are being lost in NSW.
Addressing the data, ATIC executive director Simon Westaway warned travellers were being put off by Australia's gradual step-by-step, re-opening of borders.
He said a total re-opening of the nation's borders in July would stop confusion and give the country's tourism industry the boost it needs to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
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South Australia said it would be opening up its borders on Tuesday to travellers from Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania.
The latter three states though are yet to signal a return to unrestricted travel.
'We now face the prospect of at least four different points in time for partial lifting of our closed borders, but with no guaranteed timetable for a full national reopening of state and territory borders,' Mr Westaway told The Australian.
A cleaner walks through a deserted outlet mall in Brisbane in April. Queensland's economy is also shrinking by $21million a day
'The lower job and reduced state economic outputs have serious implications for our national tourism economy because interstate visitors are more financially valuable than intrastate ones.'
The figures come as Trade Minister Simon Birmingham warned on Wednesday Australia is unlikely to reopen its border to international travellers until next year.
He said though the government would look at relaxing entry rules for students and other long-term visitors.
A waitress serves customers for the first time in three months at South Melbourne's Emerald Hotel on June 1. One of Australia's leading tourism executives has called for the government to reopen the country completely by July
Mr Birmingham said a quarantine rule for returning citizens could be applied to international students and other visitors who plan to stay for a long period of time.
'We can simply work through the 14-day quarantine periods that have worked so well in terms of returning Australians to this country safely,' Mr Birmingham said in a speech to the National Press Club.
The return of international students will be a boost for universities facing big financial losses with the border closed as international education is Australia's fourth-largest foreign exchange earner, worth $38billion a year.
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said in a speech to the National Press Club Australia is unlikely to reopen its border to international travellers until next year
Australia has had more than 7,300 cases of the coronavirus and 102 people have died.
The country recorded its biggest daily rise in new infections in more than a month on Wednesday, with the most of them in Victoria, the second most populous state.
Victoria reported 21 new cases overnight, of which 15 are returned travellers in quarantine, taking the total tally for the day to 22 cases, with some states yet to report their data.
