Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has rolled the dice on her coronavirus strategy by deferring a snap lockdown for Brisbane after six new local coronavirus cases emerged on Thursday.

After preaching of the benefits of “short and sharp” lockdowns to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks over the past 18 months, Ms Palaszczuk decided to reintroduce tougher restrictions rather than shut down the Queensland capital for the standard three or seven-day lockdown.