New South Wales rules out moving Queensland border checkpoints south to Tweed River

The hopes of thousands of cross-border residents and struggling businesses have been dealt a blow with New South Wales rejecting a request to move border checkpoints south.

New South Wales has flatly ruled out temporarily moving the border south, dashing the hopes of thousands of cross-border residents and battered businesses.

It comes as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reveals Queensland recorded no new local or overseas-acquired cases of Covid in the past 24 hours.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski revealed the border development on Tuesday after talks with Cross Border Commissioner James McTavish.

Moving the border checkpoints to the Tweed River or even further south had been seen as a solution to the problem which has split families, left workers including teachers and health professionals stranded and smashed small businesses at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads.

Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski. Picture: John Gass

But Mr Gollschewski said the idea was now completely off the table.

“The NSW Government has expressly ruled out a movement of the border checkpoints into their state – that’s not on the table, we can’t do that,” he told ABC Radio.

“We’re having to look at what other options there might be and see what we can do to try and improve things for the people on the border.

“But we are limited at what’s on the table because that border movement is just not going to happen.”

Mr Gollschewski said essential worker exemptions would be looked at in further talks on Tuesday but ‘ultimately that’s a matter for the Chief Health Officer’.

“With the many thousands of cases we’re seeing continually in NSW, I think the risk is still very high so that’s going to be a very difficult piece of work,” he said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

Mr Gollschewski said 6000 vehicles were processed at the border checkpoints on Monday, with 154 people turned back.

“Every day we’re seeing people trying it on – trying to get through when they shouldn’t,” he said.

“Sometimes they just get it wrong and other times they’re deliberately trying to get through the system, and that’s a problem for us.”