Originally Posted by
SOPS
I can tell you one thing for sure. If ScoMo doesn’t stop this “ all borders must be open by Christmas “ stuff , he won’t be PM for much longer because he will lose every seat in WA. I know people, here in WA, who want the borders ( including the international one), closed permanently. It doesn’t matter if you think that is silly or not, the general feeling in WA is to keep things as they are. And if QF takes it ball and goes home, I don’t think many people will mind.
Respectfully, it actually does matter what these people think. The idea of having the border closed permanently is nothing short of idiotic and that point needs to be clearly articulated to these people.
We elect our politicians to lead the country and not take these populist positions that are currently taking place (A fanciful concept I know). What the WA and QLD premiers are doing is made all the more disgraceful by the fact that they have both recently been re elected. They can move away from popularism and lead their states (and in turn the rest of the country) out of the pandemic towards Covid Normal.
Love him or hate him, what John Howard did after Port Arthur with gun control was incredibly unpopular with his voter base - but he knew it was the right thing to do and so acted decisively and lead the country through that turbulent time. That was one of the last times a political leader in this country has actually had the courage of their convictions to make an unpopular decision.
Keeping the state borders closed is disastrous for the economy in the long run, is disastrous for those that are away from home / family for whatever reason and is slowly but surely killing the aviation industry (rather relevant given this is a professional pilot forum).
So I will call it out now - anyone that is advocating for state borders to remain closed once the country reaches 80% vaccination rate should be quickly told in no uncertain terms to pull their heads in.