Queensland shut…forever? Annastacia Palaszczuk ruins holiday plans for millions as she rubbishes our neighbours, insists borders stay shut and even claims 80 per cent vaxx rate takes us 'backwards'
- Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to ignore national cabinet plan
- She said opening at 80 per cent vaxx-rate would send Queensland 'backwards'
- Palaszczuk rubbished idea of travel saying people wouldn't want to go anywhere
- She claimed Queenslanders would rather stay in own state than travel the world
- Palaszczuk said she was 'sick of being attacked' for Queensland doing great job
Queensland is likely to be shut off from the rest of Australia and the world for even longer, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk claiming millions would rather stay in their own state than travel in another explosive tirade.
Ms Palaszczuk all but ruined Christmas plans for families hoping to reunite, saying she will ignore the national cabinet's plan to open borders at 80 per cent vaccination rates because it will send QLD 'backwards'.
On Thursday, she said the national plan had 'not been finalised' and that she would keep borders shut to New South Wales despite soaring vaccinations.
Ms Palaszczuk claimed Queenslanders didn't want to travel overseas, despite her flying to Tokyo for the Olympic Games, and that they would prefer to stay in their own state during the upcoming holiday season.
'Where are you going to go? Are you going to go to India? In Tokyo, you have to sit in Perspex screens with masks on and if you remove your mask you can't talk while you're chewing,' she said.

Queensland's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) says she will ignore the national cabinet agreement and wants to keep borders closed even after 80 per cent vaccination rates are reached

Ms Palaszczuk said tourist spots such as the Gold Coast would go backwards if the state was to re-open under the national cabinet plan (pictured, the Queensland border at Coolangatta)

The decision will ruin Christmas plans for thousands of Australians who were hoping to holiday in Queensland or to reunite with family (pictured, a woman on Duranbah beach near the QLD-NSW border)
Ms Palaszczuk continued: 'If you look at the national plan, the 80 per cent actually takes you backwards and I do not want that for Queensland, so we're probably going to see a difference for Western Australia and Queensland because at the moment we have freedoms.'
NSW recorded 1,063 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, while Victoria saw 766 new infections. The states are at 56.6 per cent and 45.9 per cent full vaccination rates respectively.
The premiers from around Australia had agreed on a plan with the federal government to release residents from lockdown at 70 per cent and re-open borders at 80 per cent, but Ms Palaszczuk and WA Premier Mark McGowan have refused.
Ms Palaszczuk claimed opening up despite high vax rates would hurt QLD and lashed out at the mismanagement of other states.
'At the moment, Queenslanders have more freedoms now than Victorians will when they reach 80 per cent vaccinated,' she said.
'In NSW, you have a massive Delta outbreak, so you have to go and ask the NSW government what is their plan for Christmas?'
She also dismissed the idea of opening international travel at 80 per cent, questioning where people would want to go, despite her travelling to Japan in July for the Tokyo Olympics.
'Where are you going to go? Are you going to go to India?' she sarcastically asked reporters.
Ms Palaszczuk also claimed Queenslanders would prefer to explore their own state than the rest of Australia and the world.
'Queenslanders would probably enjoy greater freedoms travelling around Queensland than if they hopped on a plane and went to Tokyo,' the premier added.

Ms Palaszczuk claimed Queenslanders would prefer to explore their own state than travel interstate or overseas thousands holding out to cross the border (pictured, families desperately reuniting at the Tweed Heads border between Queensland and NSW)

Ms Palaszczuk said Queenslanders will have greater freedoms than those in NSW and Victoria even when those states reach 80 per cent vaccination rates (pictured, people talk over barriers at the Tweeds Head border between Queensland and NSW)
The premier also lost her cool earlier on Thursday saying she was 'sick of being attacked'.
Ms Palaszczuk repeated unverified claims that her state would be hit with a deadly Covid outbreak if it opened up when it hits the 80 per cent full vaccination rate.
She then played the victim when this was put under scrutiny and after she was pressed for detail on when she would open borders to NSW and Victoria.
'Let me say this to you, if we get a Delta outbreak here, we'll all be in lockdown and no business will be operating,' Ms Palaszczuk said at at a new vaccination hub in Brisbane on Thursday.
'Do you want that? Do you want that?'
'I don't understand this constant criticism of Queensland doing well. I will always stand up for this state, I am sick of being attacked for Queensland doing a great job, and Queenslanders doing a great job.'

Ms Palaszczuk also claimed Queenslanders would prefer to travel their own state than the rest of Australia and the world (pictured, Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast)

'Queenslanders would probably enjoy greater freedoms travelling around Queensland than if they hopped on a plane and went to Tokyo,' the premier added (pictured, border checks at Coolangatta)
Ms Palaszczuk implied the Queensland health system would be in crisis like NSW if the border was opened.
This was despite NSW's hospital dramas being caused by an outbreak three months ago when vaccination rates were low.
'There are very serious issues here, the hospitals in NSW are going to be overwhelmed next month,' the premier said.
'I don't want that for Queensland, that is why we have tough border measures in place and that is why I want people to get vaccinated, to protect our freedoms.'
Ms Palaszczuk repeated her mantra that the 80 per cent threshold would be different for each state, despite her initially agreeing to the national plan.
'In Victoria, at 80 per cent, they will be allowed 30 people to visit for Christmas dinner. Here, Queenslanders can have 100 people over,' she said.
'I'm sick of constantly being attacked for doing the right thing.'
Queensland recorded two new Covid-19 cases on Thursday as the sate continues avoid a major delta outbreak.
One is a St Thomas More College student from the cluster at Sunnybank identified two weeks ago who is in home quarantine, the other in hotel quarantine.
Ms Palaszczuk told reporters to ask the federal government about the national plan for re-opening ahead of tomorrow's national cabinet meeting.
'You don't understand it, I'm sorry,' she chided one reporter who referred to what NSW residents would be free to do once the 80 per cent target was reached.

Queenslanders have been trapped in their own state during the pandemic (pictured, the QLD-NSW border)

Ms Palaszczuk defended her decision to maintain strict border controls because of the current Delta outbreaks in NSW and Victoria - which forced families to meet up on Father's Day this year at the border (pictured)
'You tell me what they can do at 80 per cent? Where's their roadmap? Where's their roadmap?'
Ms Palaszczuk said a lot of the attacks on her state were coming from the federal government.
'Everyone needs to take a deep breath here because what we are trying to do is keep Queenslanders safe,' she said.
Queensland has vaccinated 61.53 per cent of the eligible population with one dose with 42.78 per cent now fully-jabbed.
The state has the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rate in the country and not expected to reach the 80 per cent target until early December.