#auspol #covid19 love Ian's work, so no criticism of him. But 'opening up' is not medical or scientific…

#auspol #covid19 love Ian's work, so no criticism of him. But 'opening up' is not medical or scientific advice. Like a trade deal, where you decide the degree of access and protection for the flow of people and goods. /1 https://t.co/Ps5O5DWrIu

Borders are never actually 'open', there are always differential restrictions for trade, tourism, immigration etc. Different visas, levels of protectionism. We should strongly resist the idea that the pressing need is to throw borders wide open. /2

We didn't even do that in our recent trade talks with the UK, for agriculture. Industries to protect, etc. This is even more serious, lives are at stake. As experts say, we need to 'titrate' them open. A cautious bit at a time, alongside public health measures, and assess. /end