Opinion: Qld border should be extended south to Grafton
Queensland’s territorial ambitions shouldn’t end with Norfolk Island. There’s a large swath of NSW that belongs in the Sunshine State, writes Peter Gleeson.
Peter Gleeson
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When state lines were being drawn up for the new Federation in 1901, the original border between NSW and Queensland would have made the Clarence River the cut-off point.
Somewhere in the process it was redrafted to be around Tweed Heads and of course, the rest is history.
But as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk mulls the prospect of annexing Norfolk Island from NSW, why stop there?
The tourism benefits alone of controlling Norfolk Island are very much in line with the state’s
tourism mantra of “beautiful one day, perfect the next”.
For the princely sum of $180-odd million, it does seem a bargain.
But with all this argy bargy between NSW and Queensland over border restrictions and lockdowns during COVID-19, surely the time has come for a rethink on the NSW border.
Northern NSW has so much more in common with Queensland than those squareheads in Sydney.
In fact, you’ve only got to take a look at the number plates of the cars visiting northern NSW during holiday periods to understand that Queenslanders already virtually own tourism hot spots such as Byron Bay, Ballina, Lennox Head and Yamba.
In fact, the common ground between northern NSW and Queensland extends to just about every part of our lives, whether it be sport, education and health provision.
A person from Lismore or Grafton is much more likely to watch a game of footy on the Gold Coast or Brisbane than in Sydney, or be treated for a major ailment at a southeast Queensland hospital.
And while we’re in such a generous acquisition mood, let’s look at other islands that are better off in the bosom of the Queensland taxpayer.
Keswick Island locals off Mackay would love to see the Government terminate China Bloom’s 99-year lease, so they can get on wither their lives.
Buying back Titan Island off Hamilton Island from private investors is also worth a shot.
With tourism doing it tough off the back of the coronavirus crisis, it makes sense to acquire Norfolk Island.
As tensions simmer over COVID-19, Ms Palaszczuk doesn’t need an excuse to demonstrate one-upmanship on her NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian.
However their relationship isn’t so rocky for Ms Palaszczuk to pick up the phone and say yes to Norfolk Island, and suggest we revisit that day in 1901 when our forefathers clearly got the border wrong, putting it at Tweed Heads instead of Grafton.
Right now, with the state’s debt approaching $100 billion, Queensland could certainly do with the extra one million people of northern NSW paying those big taxes.
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