Annastacia Palaszczuk ups the ante in her battle with Gladys Berejiklian as she asks Queenslanders to write a text message for her to send to the NSW premier after Blues lose Origin footy
- Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called on Queenslanders to help her write a text
- Text is to be about Queensland’s State Of Origin win, and sent to NSW premier
- The two premiers have been engaged in a war of words in recent months
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called on Queenslanders to help her write a text to NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian following her state’s State of Origin series win.
The Queenslanders won the deciding match on Wednesday, leading Ms Palaszczuk to boast about the state’s victory – and take the opportunity to rub salt into her counterpart’s wounds after the pair’s war of words over border closures.
‘Many people have asked me what I text NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian,’ she told reporters on Thursday.
‘Well I’m asking Queenslanders what should I text the NSW Premier.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called on Queenslanders to help her write a text to NSW Premier Gladys Berijiklian following the Maroons’ State of Origin win
Queensland Maroons celebrating winning the decider in the 2020 State Of Origin series
‘I’ll be looking forward to hearing your comments and the best one I’ll be sending.’
She continued to congratulate the women’s and men’s teams for their victories.
The two premiers have taken several swipes at each other in recent months.
Ms Berijiklian and Ms Palaszczuk have not seen eye-to-eye on border restrictions during the pandemic, with the NSW premier calling for Queensland to open up to Sydneysiders.
Earlier this month a leaked text message showed Ms Berejiklian did reach out to her Queensland counterpart to ‘work together’ and open the borders.
Ms Palaszczuk previously claimed Ms Berejiklian ‘never called her’ about the issue – but text message receipts prove she did reach out via text on at about 8pm on November 1.
‘Hi Annastacia, congratulations on your election win,’ the text read, according to news.com.au.
Earlier this month a leaked text message (pictured) showed Ms Berejiklian did reach out to her Queensland counterpart to ‘work together’ and open the borders
Ms Berejiklian (pictured) told reporters she was ‘bemused’ by the behaviour of her Queensland counterpart this week
‘I can imagine how difficult that was during a pandemic! Hope we can work together to get our borders open. Gladys.’
According to Ms Berejiklian, the Queensland premier smugly responded on November 4 about her state’s victory in a State of Origin rugby league game.
She typed: ‘Queenslander, great game.’
She made no mention of the contentious border restrictions issue.
‘I did not hear from her [Ms Palaszczuk] until when she sent me a text about State of Origin,’ Ms Berejiklian said on Thursday.
‘I didn’t know whether to be shocked or bemused, frankly, because I’m worried about jobs and I’m worried about people not seeing their families.
‘And she just rubbed in the fact that Queensland won the game, that’s fine.
‘She didn’t mention borders, she didn’t mention a thanks for the congratulations.’
Responding on November 6, the Queensland leader told a scrum of journalists she is ‘always happy to to speak to Gladys, she has my [phone] number’.
Ms Palaszczuk hit back at Ms Berejiklian, stating ‘she has my number’ and that she shouldn’t be ‘misleading to the media’
She then accused Ms Berejiklan of being ‘misleading’ after telling the media she ‘had phoned me when she did not phone me.’
2GB radio host Ben Fordham felt Ms Palaszczuk’s text message was ‘rude’, before telling her to ‘grow up.’
‘While people in Sydney can’t see their families in Brisbane that’s the best that Annastacia could come up with — a smart-ass response about a football game,’ he said.
‘She’s a child and she’s looking like a brat.’
When quizzed about the possibility of a back-flip if NSW does open its border to Victorians, a spokeswoman from Queensland Health said a decision will be made depending on the number of cases nationwide.
‘We know this pandemic is not over, these decisions will continue to be made as our health response continues and we continue to see new cases across the nation,’ the spokeswoman told The Courier Mail.