Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has suggested Queensland has “a bit of a way to go” to show it has learned to live with COVID.

While the state has eased the definition of ‘close contacts’ of an infectious person on two flights, around 60 people in the surrounding seven rows will still need to spend Christmas in quarantine.

Mr Birmingham told Chris O’Keefe while the Sunshine State’s reopened borders are “a big step forward’, its government needs to continue to “settle down” such health policies.

“If you’re going to put an entire plane full of people into isolation, you’re going to pretty quickly find you don’t have people on those planes.”

Press PLAY below to watch his response in full

The Finance Minister also addressed the impact of eased restrictions on the economy, foreshadowing a ‘surprising’ mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) tomorrow.

“We’re likely to be in a better position than expected.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

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