QLD border closure: What it means for Coffs/Clarence region

From 1am Friday 23 July Queensland’s border with New South Wales will close. Here are the winners and losers for the Coffs/Clarence region.

The border may be closing, but Clarence Valley residents can breathe a small sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case for Coffs Harbour.

From 1am Friday 23 July Queensland’s border with New South Wales will close. There will be a border zone established for travel in certain circumstances.

Queensland Deputy Premier Stephen Miles confirmed the news in a Thursday July 22 morning press conference.

He said a border bubble will be activated for residents in Northern NSW, including the Clarence Valley, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield, and Tweed.

However, Coffs Harbour has been excluded from the list.

“We’ve seen ongoing escalation in case numbers and numbers infectious in NSW,” Mr Miles said.

“We won’t include Coffs Harbour because there are some risks there.”

The local government areas and regions in the border zone are Ballina, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill, Byron, Clarence Valley, Glen Innes Severn, Gwydir, Inverell, Kyogle, Lismore, Moree Plains, Richmond Valley, Tenterfield, Tweed, Unincorporated Far West and Walgett.

— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) July 22, 2021

Queensland’s chief health officer Dr Jeanette Young said the border zone will be activated for essential reasons such as medical appointments, work, school and essential shopping.

Queenslanders who return home after the 1am deadline must undergo hotel quarantine.

For border zone residents who travel south, they will not be able enter Queensland until 14 days after travelling.

It comes as Queensland reduces restrictions for residents, increasing household visits and venue capacities.

Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski said travellers could continue to use the existing travel pass until the new border declaration was implemented.

“When we do first implement this, it does get very congested,” he said.

“I’m asking all the community to work with us on this. We also know we’re going to see reduced flows once the restrictions kick in.”

These restrictions will remain in place for four weeks, with a possible earlier review pending the outcome of the current outbreak.

If you need to enter Queensland for limited reasons, including healthcare, work, education, essential shopping and caring for vulnerable people, you must complete a declaration. Click here to access the declaration.