Virgin Australia boss wants international border to open even if ‘some people may die’

Virgin Australia’s chief executive has likened COVID-19 to the flu and says she wants the international border to reopen soon even if it means “some people may die” from the virus. Federal budget papers last week indicated Australia would not reopen until mid next year, but airline boss Jayne Hrdlicka said if vaccination levels were high enough, Australia should reopen sooner. “COVID will be part of the community,” she told a business lunch in Brisbane on Monday. “We will become sick with COVID and it won’t put us in hospital, and it won’t put people into dire straits because we’ll have a vaccine. “Some people may die, but it will be way smaller than with the flu. “We’re forgetting the fact that we’ve learnt how to live with lots of viruses and challenges over the years and we’ve got to learn how to live with this.” More than 3.3 million people are estimated to have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Her surprising comments come as the Prime Minister warned it was “not safe” for Australia to turn the switch on its international border closure. MORRISON INSISTS TRAVEL ‘ISN’T SAFE’ Scott Morrison has rejected a growing push from MPs and business leaders to soon reopen the country after assumptions in the budget revealed border restrictions would not ease until mid-2022. Speaking in Brisbane, Mr Morrison said Australians understood the importance of a cautious approach when it came to maintaining the hard border. “It is not safe to take those next steps right now,” he said on Monday. “It’s not one day the borders are open, one day the borders are closed. “That’s not how it works. “There is a sliding sort of scale here, and we’re working on the next steps.” Mr Morrison said the next steps included fully vaccinated Australians being exempt from domestic restrictions and the return of international students and skilled migrants to assist workforce shortages. “There are some practical challenges that we are working on now and finding solutions to,” Mr Morrison said. “I’m looking forward to further discussions with the Singapore government about them being the next potential (travel bubble) country.” AUSSIES BACK PM’S FORTRESS AUSTRALIA PLAN: NEWSPOLL Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has handed down the most well received budget since the era of John Howard and Peter Costello, but has missed the mark in giving the government a pre-election boost. According to an exclusive Newspoll for The Australian gauging voters overall approval of last Tuesday’s budget, 44 per cent said the government’s spending spree will help kickstart the economy as it enters a post-COVID-19 recovery. But voters were divided — 19 per cent each way — on whether they were personally better or worse off under the budget which delivered tax breaks for lower and middle-income earners and small businesses, along with spending on aged-care and mental health. A record 62 per cent of people could not say whether they would be better or worse off. Only 15 per cent of voters disapproved of the budget but its popularity does not equate to an upswing in support for the Coalition. The poll also found 73 per cent of voters support the Morrison government’s Fortress Australia international border policy and want them to remain closed until the global pandemic is under control. Labor is steady with its 51 to 49 two-party-preferred lead while the Coalition remains on an unchanged primary vote of 41 per cent. But Labor dropped two points to 36 per cent, with Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese also suffering a fall in support. Mr Albanese also suffered a drop in personal approval ratings, with dissatisfaction in his performance as Opposition Leader rising three points to 46 per cent. Approval for the left-wing Greens rose from 10 per cent to a post-election high of 12 per cent. Scott Morrison also suffered a two-point fall in net approval, with his satisfaction rating falling one point to 58 per cent and dissatisfaction rating rising a point to 38 per cent. But Mr Morrison is still preferred prime minister despite dropping a point to 55 per cent, and Mr Albanese remained unchanged at 30 per cent. The Coalition seems to have rebounded from the damage done by the rape allegations which saw its lowest level in the polls since the bushfire crisis. Speaking at an engineering company in Gladstone on Sunday, Mr Morrison said the budget was about keeping the “momentum of our domestic economy moving” and “supporting Australians to be in jobs”. Mr Frydenberg said the point of the budget was to provide relief for Australians and accelerate the economy. “We can’t take our foot off the accelerator,” Mr Frydenberg said in Melbourne. “So we’ve continued to do the things that have actually worked, providing more incentives for businesses to invest, and of course, providing Australians with more of their hard earned money with tax relief, including this Low and Middle Income Tax Offset. Newspoll Results “But the key point is, we’re still in the middle of the pandemic. We can’t take the gains we’ve made for granted. We must lock them in.” Mr Albanese has said the budget was a bid to win the next election and warned voters that the Coalition would cut spending later on. “We know from this government, just like we saw in 2014 when it first came to office, that they will make cuts, they will return to type. What they’re saying is they’ve suspended their ideology for the current period. What they are really trying to do is to just get through to the next election,” he said.