President Obama appeared to criticize Australian prime minister Tony Abbott for closing borders to Austrlia due to concern over Ebola.
“[W]hat we’ve learned from the Ebola outbreak is that in this globalized world, where the Pacific is like a lake, if countries are so poor that they can’t afford basic public health infrastructure, that threatens our health,” Obama said in a speech at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, according to a White House trancript of the event.
“We cannot built [sic] a moat around our countries, and we shouldn’t try. What we should be doing is making sure everybody has some basic public health systems that allow for early warning when outbreaks of infectious disease may occur. That’s not just out of charity. It is in our self-interest.”
Of course, Abbott did try to build a “moat” to protect Australia from Ebola.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reported in October, “Australia shuts borders to Ebola-affected countries.”
“Australia has temporarily closed its borders to people from Ebola-affected west African nations as it steps up the nation’s defences against the virus,” read the report.
“Nevertheless, we are continuing to talk to our friends and partners about what more might be done to address the situation in West Africa. I certainly do not rule out Australia doing more,” Mr Abbott told parliament.
President Obama is in Australia for a G-20 meeting.
