Palaszczuk calls for Federal assistance

Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on the Federal Government to extend JobKeeper for the struggling Queensland tourism industry after closing the state’s border to New South Wales during most of the Christmas holidays.

“We really need the Federal Government to think about extending JobKeeper for these industries that are doing it tough,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Speaking from Cairns, Ms Palaszczuk today announced the opening of the state’s border to Greater Sydney from February 1 and encouraged residents to visit the Queensland regions.

“There’s about 10,000 businesses here in the Tropical North that are on JobKeeper at the moment,” she said.

“That’s going to have a huge impact on employment especially when JobKeeper ends at the end of March.

“What we’re asking for is a helping hand at this hour of need.”

Interstate travel normally injects up to $10 billion a year into Queensland and roughly 40% of that figure comes from NSW travellers.

SkyNews.