SA borders will remain closed to NSW and ACT residents, but open to Queensland

SA borders remain closed to people from NSW and ACT, and now Queensland could also be cut off as their coronavirus spread escalates.

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South Australians have been warned to reconsider travel to Queensland, as authorities consider a new border crackdown to prevent COVID-19 from spreading to the state.

The state’s transition committee met on Friday, during which the escalating Queensland

coronavirus spread was tabled as an “issue of concern”.

Authorities are considering reimposing stricter border controls with the Sunshine State, which could have significant implications on the AFL season.

Queensland authorities on Friday announced a Brisbane man, 27, had become that state’s first community transmission case in two months, in which no known infection source has been identified.

He is linked to three women charged with lying about visiting virus hotspot Melbourne before they returned to Queensland and moved throughout the community for eight days.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens, who is also SA’s COVID-19 co-ordinator, told The Advertiser that the committee had “quite a big discussion” about the group’s implications of “running riot through Queensland”.

He said while no decision was made to reimpose border restrictions yet, he said any changes would involve people travelling from Queensland entering mandatory 14 days of quarantine.

“That has the potential to cause concerns for our current border arrangements with Queensland,” he said.

“We are watching closely but the reality is if Queensland have community transmission then we need to be thinking about what we have to do to ensure people returning from Queensland don’t present any further risk to South Australia.

“No changes at this stage, although it would be my advice to anybody who is planning to travel to Queensland they reconsider their need to travel, unless they can accommodate a 14-day quarantine period.

“Because there is the potential that we will have to reintroduce that if we saw community transmission of COVID-19 starting to appear in Queensland.

“We just can’t afford to take the risk of someone moving through the Queensland community, contracting the virus and then coming back without any restrictions into South Australia.”

South Australian borders will remain closed to NSW and ACT residents. Mr Stevens said authorities were also watching the ACT and its “concerning” spread of the virus.

“But it is our information that NSW seems to have a more sophisticated approach to contact-tracing,” he said.

“And would be more on top of the situation than we are seeing in Victoria. There is some comfort with that but people travelling back from NSW still have to quarantine and I can’t see that changing anytime soon at the moment.”

Premier Steven Marshall told The Advertiser that NSW needed to get its cases under control before the transition committee considers removing restrictions.

“Although the numbers are low (in NSW), there is an increasing spread of clusters. We really want to see NSW get on top of those clusters very soon,” Mr Marshall said.

Mr Marshall expected the committee to also scrutinise essential traveller status as case numbers continued to surge in Victoria.

“It really reinforced why our escalating border restrictions are in place, and we will have no hesitation to increase these in the future if that is the expert advice we receive,” he said.

Meanwhile, pressure is also mounting on WA to open a travel bubble with South Australia amid growing fears Clive Palmer’s High Court challenge will set a precedent that could stop future border closures.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter have publicly sounded the alarm over the risk, and are working behind-the-scenes to convince WA Premier Mark McGowan to open the border with SA at a minimum. Constitutional law experts have also warned the case could set a precedent for future border closures as the billionaire’s challenge goes before the Federal Court this week and the High Court as early as September.

“If you maintain an all or nothing approach, then you run a very high risk that you will have the High Court determine against you in the long run,” Mr Porter told a WA radio station this week.

“This is not about any great love or any great dislike for Clive Palmer. This is about the overarching policy.

The Federal Government is arguing border closers are unconstitutional unless they are in place for medical reasons.

Mr Porter suggested a travel bubble with SA first where both states have low active cases and no community transmission.

A staged jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction approach to reopening borders would avoid the risk of an adverse finding in the High Court which “requires you to do everything at once,” Mr Porter said.

Mr Morrison said border closures must be underpinned by a “clear, transparent process of medical evidence”, and questioned why WA would be closed to SA when “the incidence of cases in South Australia is lower than it is in Western Australia”.

Police checks near the South Australian border.

WA’s Chief Health Officer has even recommended an initial travel bubble with SA.

Murdoch University law expert Lorraine Finlay says the Palmer case “could be pivotal”.

“It will set an important precedent and ultimately determine whether, and to what extent, state governments can close their borders to protect their residents against future outbreak,” she wrote in The Conversation.

Truck drivers are calling for more COVID-19 testing stations, and for them to be open 24 hours a day, amid concerns people have waited in line for hours to meet new requirements.

Truck drivers travelling into SA from Victoria or NSW now need to be tested once a week. SA Road Transport Association executive officer Steve Shearer said one driver had on Wednesday reported queuing at Tailem Bend for 2½ hours for a test, only to find that the station closed at 5pm, when he was fifth in line.

He said under strict fatigue management rules that set out minimum sleep requirements, long waits placed drivers at risk of huge fines. Mr Shearer said more testing stations were vital along freight routes, and they must also be open through the night.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said Victorian trucks would continue to pour across the border unchecked by police because it would be impossible to process every driver.

Mr Stevens said police were stopping some trucks, randomly or based on intelligence, but others were waved through.