Palaszczuk reveals internal Labor opposition to her border stance

“I think that probably everybody attacking me, yelling at me, demanding that I do something that I knew was not the right thing to do, and I stood my ground,” she said.

“It was about keeping our border closed and at a time when everyone was demanding it to be open. We could have had what Victoria experienced in terms of a second wave.

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“There were many in my own party that didn’t agree with me. It wasn’t just one side of politics, it was a lot of sides of politics and a lot of people. It was very tough, but I stood my ground.

“I’m not saying there were verbal disagreements, but I know that there were people in the party, in the bureaucracy, right across the board that were concerned by the stand I was taking and the impact that was having on industries.

“So when you’re up against all that pressure, not just from outside but from within, and you stand your ground and you get through it, at the end of the day I am very proud of where we are.”

Ms Palaszczuk said Thursday night’s event at the Gold Coast’s Home of the Arts was a testament to Queensland’s virus response.

“We’re all sitting here tonight in a packed auditorium, you [O’Brien] have been able to come up from New South Wales. I think Queenslanders value their health, their family, having a job and lifestyle and we have all of that happening at the moment in our state,” she said.

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Ms Palaszczuk also spoke about the impending vaccine rollout and the challenges it presents in Queensland, one of the most decentralised states.

“I’m going to be encouraging everyone to get the vaccine as well, if Dr Young said to me it was safe to get it, I’m going to get it and I think everyone else should as well. If we want to get to some sort of ‘how life was’, it is absolutely crucial,” she said.

“The key is distribution, how do we get it out to so many places across Queensland. It is going to be very complex.

“The details are being worked through at the moment, [Australian Chief Health Officer] Professor [Brendan] Murphy has actually asked us to send someone from each state and territory and embed themselves in Canberra so we can be confident that the vaccine will be done according to schedule.”