One of the strongest arguments in support of Canberra Airport boss Stephen Byron's call for a relaxation on travel restrictions between the ACT and Queensland, as well as South Australia, is the excellent job Canberra has done in limiting coronavirus cases despite its own open borders.
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Unfortunately, given the spats that have broken out between state leaders over the border issue, it's unlikely the Canberra Airport chief executive will be receiving a positive response to his letters to the premiers of Queensland and South Australia too soon.
This is in spite of the fact that even at the height of the coronavirus crisis, many NSW residents were travelling to the ACT to work, to attend medical appointments, and for a host of other reasons, without ill-effect.
Canberra has, notwithstanding this influx, done an excellent job of keeping new cases to an absolute minimum.
The ACT clocked up 16 days without a fresh case on Thursday. More than 14,600 tests have come back negative. An average of 270 tests are being conducted every 24 hours.
This jurisdiction is, in short, well ahead of the curve in terms of testing and case minimisation.
The ACT, South Australia and the Northern Territory are the only states or territories to have no active cases of COVID-19. Only the NT, at 18 days, has gone longer without recording a new case.
Canberrans would arguably be more at risk from Queenslanders, Tasmanians, Western Australians, and South Australians travelling here than the other way around, despite the fact we have kept our borders open while they have closed theirs.
Canberrans, given their record on coronavirus to date, should be welcome anywhere.
While the rush to close the borders, which was the action taken by many states during the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago, was understandable two months ago, it is becoming harder for individual jurisdictions to justify staying "under the doona".
The obvious reason, for example, that NSW and Victoria have had more cases, more often, is they are the most populous. By world standards their infection rates are remarkably low.
This is arguably one of the reasons the chief medical officer, Dr Brendan Murphy, has said there are no health benefits to be gained from decisions by Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania to keep their borders closed now.
Queensland's premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has gone so far as to suggest the Sunshine State won't be accepting interstate visitors until the spring.
That, in turn, has aroused the ire of her NSW counterpart, Gladys Berejiklian, who recently said it seemed probable she would be able to travel to Auckland sooner than she would be able to go to Brisbane.
Ms Berejiklian ramped up the rhetoric even further this week when she suggested the border closures could be more about populism than anything else.
"I'm sure those premiers are getting more popular in their states for keeping their borders closed," she said. While NSW accounts for roughly half of Australia's more than 7000 confirmed cases its new cases have been flat-lining for the past month.
It is unfortunate that this frank and open exchange of views, which is the first real evidence National Cabinet solidarity could be breaking down, will encourage those involved to draw lines in the sand rather than to approach the question of border closures with open minds.
If that was to occur then it goes without saying that Canberrans, given their record on coronavirus to date, should be welcome anywhere.
