Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has offered rare praise to NSW after criticising the rival southern state throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview on the Today Show on Tuesday morning, Ms Palaszczuk pointed to NSW's achievement in fully vaccinating more than 80 per cent of eligible people as the example she would like Queensland to emulate.
'I was ridiculed when I said I would like to see 90 percent [vaccination rate in Queensland],' she said.
'New South Wales has hit 90 percent. ACT has hit 90 per cent. We could be the best vaccinated country in the world if we get our vaccination levels up.'
Ms Palaszczuk pointed to NSW's achievement in fully vaccinating more than 80 per cent of eligible people as the example she would like Queensland to emulate in an interview on the Today Show on Tuesday
Ms Palaszczuk said the 'massive' Delta outbreaks had encouraged people in NSW and Victoria to get vaccinated in order to regain freedoms, unlike the situation in Queensland.
'In Queensland, we've had the luxury of essentially being largely Delta free so now it is really important for people across Queensland to get vaccinated and lift our vaccination rates as soon as possible.'
The comments contrast with Ms Palaszczuk's scathing criticism of NSW as recently as September, when she spoke at the CEDA conference in Brisbane.
'Our last lockdown lasted eight days,' Ms Palaszczuk said.
'Eight days after the start of its current outbreak, NSW was yet to enter lockdown.
'It’s been in one (lockdown) now for three months at a cost to business of $100 million a day.
'Our neighbours fight to regain their freedoms,' she continued. 'We fight to retain ours.'
The frosty relationship between Ms Palaszczuk and former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was laid bare when a series of icy text messages were released in June.
The conversations were released under a Right To Information request and appeared to show the breakdown in civil communication between the two leaders.
What started out as warm and friendly texts between the pair in January 2020 after the devastating bushfires quickly descended into single-word 'thx' responses.
The two leaders have been at loggerheads over the response to Covid since the beginning of the pandemic, with a series of border closures between NSW and Queensland causing havoc for residents of both states.
Ms Berejiklian, who stood down as NSW Premier on October 1 ahead of a state corruption inquiry into her secret relationship with disgraced MP Daryl Maguire, was vocal in her frustration at Queensland repeatedly shutting out its southern border during her time as leader.
