THE former Nationals Member for Mallee Andrew Broad has taken a swipe at his former boss and current Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his “weak” response to state border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr Broad took to Facebook this week following the demise of Tambray Coaches, which operated between Mildura and Adelaide but was forced to close due to the South Australian border restrictions.
“This is very sad for both the business owner and the Mildura community and frankly should not have happened,” Mr Broad said.
“We are Australians, the colonies ended in 1901, and given the virus case numbers where they currently are, it’s about time the Federal Government grew some courage and challenged the validity of the state border closes in the High Court,” he said.
“Prime Minister Morrison has been weak and National Cabinet is a farce.”
Mr Broad told Sunraysia Daily on Tuesday that while the meeting of state and territory leaders at the National Cabinet summit in September sounded “a very promising initial response” it had turned into “a farce”.
Mr Morrison had preempted that meeting by saying he wanted states to adopt a uniform approach to defining coronavirus hot spots, so people could move more freely across the country without jeopardising health outcomes.
“With the numbers where they are, there’s no justification for borders staying how strict they are,” Mr Broad said.
“I thought National Cabinet was all working together, weren’t they?
“We were all going to work constructively and it appears that it’s just completely been a farce.
“The (COVID-19) numbers are low and if National Cabinet is not going to work then they damn well should challenge in the High Court and get on with it and get the country open.
“If we start getting all parochial then we’re no better than the premiers.”
Mr Broad said the health of Mallee residents had been compromised due to South Australia’s hard border closures.
“The European Union managed to keep borders open internally, the countries are still dealing with their sovereign responses to the virus, but we are Australians and I just think the bloody-mindedness, particularly of South Australia’s Premier, is unacceptable,” he said.
“The response has been appalling … and I’m not sure we’re near the end of this, to be honest.
“We’ve put a blanket over the embers and we’ve snuffed it out, but ultimately we have to take the blanket off — we can’t hide from the world.
“It is disappointing to see the effects on our community, absolutely.”
