Why the Queensland and Victorian premiers did not close their borders to NSW sooner is beyond me

Decisions to close state borders are difficult ones, but Covid-19 has forced Queensland’s hand before. As Sydney remains in the grip of a Delta outbreak, that has now spread to Victoria, why have we not moved to shut the gate, asks Rae Wilson. POLL

Why the Queensland and Victorian premiers have not closed their borders to NSW sooner is beyond me.

We have slammed the borders shut to Victoria repeatedly, disrupting many a travel plan and hampering our tourism industry.

I have supported those closures even though they are constantly thwarting efforts from my family to fly north to visit me.

And yet this highly contagious variant that seems to be spreading like wildfire across Sydney — 97 new Covid cases today after 89 new cases yesterday — is not enough for a snap closure?

What is the threshold? Have the goalposts moved? Or are goalposts the essence of the delay?

Will the border finally close after tonight’s final State of Origin match?

Or are we waiting for NRL teams to migrate north for the rest of the season?

Surely we can create another footy bubble and hope they can actually play by the rules this time.

My mother and father both tried to visit from country Victoria in May and June, respectively, but we slammed shut the Queensland border even though there were zero cases anywhere near where they live.

Flights cancelled and vouchers issued.

My sister has flights booked with her husband and my three nephews for later this month – paid for many months ago with fingers crossed.

Her text yesterday simply said “f---ing Covid” as she realised the infectious Sydney removalists in Victoria could well ruin our plans. Again.

And now one of the exposure sites is the MCG after the Geelong v Carlton match on Friday.

That’s 31,000 people – 2000 in the danger area.

But this time the reality of the Covid situation has really hit home.

I am supposed to fly back with my sister in early August for my dad’s 70th birthday – it’s to be the first time I’ve seen anyone in my family since February 2020.

But bigger than that, my dad got some shitty health news a fortnight ago and must have pretty intensive treatment over the next seven weeks that will be a burden on my family.

I joke about living two states away from my family but Covid has made me realise it’s not as easy as jumping on a plane like it once was.

We’ve all had our Covid vaccinations but we remain affected by lockdowns whenever there is an outbreak.

Daily Mercury editor Rae Wilson getting her Covid-19 Pfizer vaccination at the new vaccination hub at CQUniversity's Mackay city campus.

I know our politicians favour keeping the borders open for the economy and domestic tourism, and I want to see my family, but if Victoria and Queensland had shut the borderss ooner, we might not be on tenterhooks again waiting for the next announcement.

Is sport really that important? As a fan of the arts and public safety, I think it’s time to close the border.

And if this Victoria exposure doesn’t blow out again, maybe I’ll have a chance to finally see my family.