Covid Qld: Gold Coast community ripped apart by ‘Berlin wall’ border line

Dozens of Gold Coast business owners have rallied to protest about the “ghost town” their area has become since the border slammed shut, but many of them say they feel they’re being “forced” to get the Covid-19 vaccine against their civil rights.

Dozens of southern Gold Coast business owners have rallied to protest about the ‘ghost town’ their area has become since the border slammed shut and NSW imposed a statewide lockdown.

One business owner who attended the meeting at Coolangatta surf club on Thursday morning said the border barricades were like the ‘Berlin Wall’ dividing the ‘twin towns’ of Coolangatta and Tweed Heads.

Southern Gold Coast MP Laura Gerber, who organised the meeting, said: “This community is being ripped apart by a line on the map.”

A Tweed Heads childcare centre operator said she and her staff were unable to go to work and feared for the mental health of children.

“The impact is just huge on everyone,” she said.

“Our business is suffering and we’re already seeing anxiety in children and I’m really concerned for them.

“They can’t go to school, they can’t go to childcare.”

Upset southern Gold Coast business owners at Coolangatta Surf Club. Picture: Greg Stolz

Queensland is still waiting to hear from the New South Wales Government about temporarily relocating the border to the Tweed River, but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday said “it could be too late”.

“Time is ticking, we’re seeing an escalation of cases in NSW and that’s very concerning,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk renewed her plea for people to get vaccinated, saying now was the perfect time to get the jab after the state recorded a fourth day in a row without a community transmission.

But vaccine hesitancy sentiments were strong among business owners who met to rail against the hard border closure.

Several said they and their staff felt they were being forced to hurriedly get the jab after the Palaszczuk Government made it mandatory from Friday for all essential workers to have had at least one dose of the vaccine if they want to cross the border into Queensland.

One healthcare business owner said young female staff were in tears ‘because they’re concerned they might not be able to have children in the future (after having the vaccine)’.

“They’re being forced to do it … where are our civil rights?” she told the meeting.

“As an employer, I have to deal with the mental health of my employees and now they’re going to be unemployed (if they refuse to get vaccinated).”

Dentist Ramesh Sivabalan, who owns surgeries at Coolangatta and Murwillumbah, said he was ‘not an anti-vaxxer’ but some of his staff were concerned at being forced to get the jab to be able to cross the border to get to work.

“We have staff that are young, they want to get married, they want to have kids (but) they’re unsure about the effects of the vaccine,” he said.

“All our staff are doing everything right … all they want to do is have a bit more time to see what happens (with the vaccine).”

A Coolangatta veterinary surgery worker said emergency vets could not cross the border and clients were ‘on the phone crying’ that they could not get help for their pets.

She said a paramedic who needed emergency medication for their pet was stopped at the border and escorted by police to the surgery.

A Coolangatta surf club official told the meeting that it was ‘bloody distressing to see the pain on people’s faces’.

“We’re in the most beautiful place but geographically we’re in the worst place in Australia,” he said.

“Unfortunately our beautiful whales can’t come and spend money in our businesses. Where are the tourists?

“I’m calling on the State Government to immediately get some of that bloody marketing money they would have spent elsewhere and get people down here.”

Police and Fire fighters at the border. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

A Coolangatta butcher said Ms Palaszczuk was ‘scaring people away from our community’.

“I’ve never seen so many people distressed in Coolangatta than the past week-and-half,” he said.

“It’s great to see Annastacia enjoying herself at Broadbeach with our mayor. She needs to come down to Coolangatta for a coffee and talk to people down here.

“There’s more at stake than just a border line - it’s people and families.

“I believe we are Australians”

The Premier said she hoped to hear from the NSW Government by close of business on Friday.