Queensland border closures will make NSW feel unwelcome even after the virus
If Queensland’s premier doesn’t want us to visit these school holidays, she should not be surprised if we decided to take our business elsewhere when things open up, writes Louise Roberts.
Opinion
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There was an era when you couldn’t move on the Gold Coast or Noosa at this time of year without meeting families like mine from interstate, NSW and Victoria in particular, and our easy-opening wallets.
We were southern refugees headed for the glitter strip and a hit of post-winter sun and overpriced theme parks.
And we loved it, every sting of sunburn, every obligatory line-up family photo in front of the Big Pineapple or on the wind-whipped sand at Surfers, the long shadows of the high-rises plunging us into temporary darkness.
Term Three school holidays meant either a short plane ride or a not so short drive up north.
Coronavirus changed all that, of course.
Or, more accurately, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s nakedly political response — closing borders to NSW citizens, even those with urgent medical issues.
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Who can forget her cold declaration that “people living in NSW have NSW hospitals. we have Queensland hospitals for our people.”
All in this together, indeed.
Which is why, even if the Queensland border reopens to us, I’m not getting out the suitcase, I’m not rescuing a sun-bleached swimsuit from deep in the wardrobe.
And, frankly, the same thing goes for other states such as South Australia which for one brief moment hinted that some sanity might be restored to its relations with NSW – only to pull the rug out at the last minute and say, no, any wine tasting in the Barossa must be prefaced with a 14-day quarantine.
Those Mudgee reds have never looked better.
But truly, this Us-versus-You-Lot mentality is at its worst at the NSW-Queensland border.
Let’s apply the science here.
On Monday, NSW recorded four new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Three of those were returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
The fourth case was locally acquired and linked to the Concord Hospital cluster, NSW Health confirmed.
Similar numbers have been tallied for days if not weeks, but no, Queensland demands zero transmission for 28 days before the border comes down — though a cynic might say, or until the next state election, whichever comes first.
Meanwhile Queensland identified two new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday — both detected in people already in quarantine.
You do the math, as they say.
But 28 days it is.
The annual school holiday pilgrimage to the Sunshine State was better than a trip overseas because the transition from stress to relax was friendly, seamless and we were pouring cash into tourism.
But the message now is sledgehammer subtle: Queensland is saying it doesn’t want us. We’re not all in this together.
And you NSW folk who use to come and pump money into our economy?
We don’t want you or the threat of your germs — we’ll get by on handouts from Canberra, and a nice slice of your GST take too, if you don’t mind.
Of course, while we are supposed to be guided by “the science”, it’s really all about politics: Palaszczuk thinks her tough stance (finely honed with over a half-million dollar’s worth of polling) makes her a hit with voters.
In NSW, cases of community transmission have been in the single digits since September 2.
With local transmission low, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at the weekend that it made no sense for the Queensland border to stay closed.
“I just do not understand,” Berejiklian said. “I think having a border between Queensland and NSW is hurting people on both sides of the border.
“I just appeal to my colleagues, please think about the medium and long term, think about people’s heartache.”
Yet the NSW Premier still gets the severity of the virus
“Unfortunately until there’s a vaccine, we have to be on our guard; every day is a battle, every day is a challenge,” she said.
All this is why, even when all this is over, I will not feel comfortable going up to Queensland when all the polls say no to us, no to NSW residents who are all cast as germ central.
Why wouldn’t I instead take my family south to Melbourne and the glorious Victorian coastline instead — when we can.
There’s a big difference between us not letting Victorians in, with their ongoing corona chaos, and allowing NSW residents into the Sunshine State when we are down to one case a day.
Doesn’t the Queensland government trust its contact tracing? If not, why should I pour my GST into their state?
The same thing goes for South Australia, Western Australia, and anywhere else that is walling itself off like this.
The sentiment will linger, particularly if the stance is endorsed at Queensland’s state election at the end of next month.
Most of us might still be in this together, but thanks to your premier Queensland, we can no longer count on you.
It’s difficult to say this, because there are mum and dad companies, small and large businesses which depend on the mighty tourist dollar.
This has left a bad taste in the mouth of many Aussies who want to support their local tourist industry. Local meaning the whole of Australia.
In a flashback to the state’s madcap Banana Republic days which resulted in a parliamentary inquiry and more than one disgraced politician, Palaszczuk has decreed that ACT residents will be welcomed — if they fly in.
It is devastating for those families who are desperately waiting to be reunited with loved ones across the border, or who have a legitimate need to go to Queensland.
For my part, I won’t be spending my tourist dollars in a state with a premier that doesn’t want me or my family.
I will be heading south where the sun still shines.
Isn’t that what holidaying at home should look like?
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