Scott Morrison asks health experts to define a 'hotspot' to stop states closing their borders to areas with no cases
- Qantas boss Alan Joyce called for a national framework for when borders close
- The Prime Minister today said he has asked health experts to define a 'hotspot'
- This would give premiers guidance on which areas they should shut out
Scott Morrison has asked health experts to define a 'hotspot' to stop states arbitrarily closing their borders.
The Prime Minster said 'we need more clarity' on when residents in certain areas should be shut out from other states.
'There needs to be a clear medical and scientific definition of what that is. These decisions cannot be made on an arbitrary basis,' he said.
Scott Morrison is pictured at AstraZeneca on Wednesday
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, made up of state and federal health experts, will attempt to come up with a 'hotspot' definition in two weeks.
It comes after Qantas boss Alan Joyce, and other business figures, called for a national framework for when borders should open and close.
Mr Joyce said it is confusing why states with no cases are not open to each other and that thousands of jobs could be saved if borders come down.
The Prime Minster also warned that hard state borders do not provide full protection from the virus.
He pointed the example of New Zealand and said: 'You can pretty much say they had fairly secure borders but quarantine arrangements won't always be perfect, they are human processes and they are subject to vulnerability.'
He said good testing and tracing regimes, like in New South Wales, were the best protections against the virus.
Mr Morrison said he expects that unemployment will remain above seven per cent for the next two years.
Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has asked the states to spend an additional combined $40billion on fiscal stimulus over the next two years.
Earlier today Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said he is concerned for tourism operators and people in border communities cut off from health care.
'Lives are really being disrupted and you've got to ask why when the medical advice is not saying that is what is needed,' Mr Dutton told the Nine Network.
'If we've got premiers who are pursuing an elimination process, the country will go broke.'
Victoria recorded 179 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the first time the daily total has fallen below 200 in weeks.
The state also recorded another nine deaths, taking the national toll to 472.
All other states and territories have fairly negligible infection numbers, or none at all.
Queensland's border closures alone are estimated to cost $21 million and 173 jobs a day.
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, who hails from rural Queensland, said: 'The inability or unwillingness of our premiers to work with each other to find common-sense and practical solutions to restrictions they have imposed is becoming a major test of their leadership.
'Premiers must remember that they are not just premiers of capital cities.
'I urge each of them to visit their impacted border regions as soon as possible and thrash out workable solutions with local governments, people, businesses and organisations.'
He described the meeting as a 'flashpoint for our federation'.
'Unless premiers commit to work with one another to find workable solutions to state border issues for regional Australians, then they risk states becoming irrelevant to modern Australia.'
Businesses and farm groups have queried border restrictions on large parts of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia that have no coronavirus cases.
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There are also concerns about the inflexibility of rules preventing people who live near borders from accessing interstate health services.
The tourism and transport sectors want greater certainty about when to expect an easing of travel restrictions.
Mr Morrison wrote to state leaders on August 16 urging them to resolve problems, and has been working with individual premiers on specific solutions.
Aged care response plans for each state, working with the federal government, will also be on the national cabinet agenda.
There is also expected to be discussion about securing seasonal workers to pick fruit and vegetables.
Scott Morrison has asked health experts to define a 'hotspot' to stop states arbitrarily closing their borders
