QLD NSW border: M1, Gold Coast Highway to close

Police have revealed parts of the M1 and Gold Coast Highway will be closed for hours at a time as concrete barriers are removed following the opening of the border to greater Sydney. FULL DETAILS >>>

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QUEENSLAND’s border has officially opened to residents of greater Sydney after 42 days.

Gold Coast police chief superintendent Mark Wheeler said about “a dozen cars” arrived at the border from the region at about midnight and were forced to wait until 1am Queensland time to enter the state.

The border had been closed to greater Sydney for 42 days. One thousand vehicles had been turned away, containing 2000 people.

Supt Wheeler said traffic was moving steadily across the border.

“Traffic on the M1 and the Gold Coast Hwy are under speed because we’ve got to slow the traffic down because the concrete barriers are still in place,” he said.

“But at 7pm tonight we will close the northbound lanes of the M1 to remove the concrete barriers.

Superintendent Mark Wheeler. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

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“All traffic will be diverted to the Gold Coast Highway.

“Then at 11pm we will then go and close the Gold Coast Highway to remove the barricading and will divert all traffic to the M1.

“By 5am tomorrow everything will be gone. All of our other entry points are all operating now, so there’s no checkpoints in place. There’s a bit of infrastructure left but it’s not really impacting traffic.”

Supt Wheeler thanked the community for its patience as well as police and partner agencies.

He said police would maintain a presence at Gold Coast Airport following the border closure to parts of Western Australia. Western Australia registered vehicles will also be intercepted by police.

Supt Wheeler said police would be able to reinstate the border controls within 24 hours if needed

BENEFITS OF REOPENING ‘TO TAKE TIME’ TO MATERIALISE

Village Roadshow Theme Parks chief operating officer Bikash Randhawa said it will take time for the effects of the Sunshine State reopening its borders to Greater Sydney to flow onto Gold Coast businesses.

The constant opening and closing of the border was confusing travellers, he said.

Bikash Randhawa. Picture: Nigel Hallett.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business or a large corporation, working in or outside tourism, all we want to see is consistency and stability,” he said.

“The big issue we have is that consumers are losing confidence to travel because of uncertainty if the border will be shut.

“When it first opened we were all excited for a spectacular summer and then when the border was shut again that was gone.

Queensland has opened its borders to Greater Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“There needs to be certainty for people to come here and holiday and know they’ll be able to do that without the border being shut.”

Queensland’s border reopened at 1am on Monday, 42 days after it was closed for the second time during the pandemic. There have been 21 variations to border rules since COVID-19 started.

Gold Coast friends Rachel Mountney and Amy Van den Akker at Sea World. Photo: Scott Powick.

Mr Randhawa said the Greater Sydney omission during the recent school holidays left a large gap in Village Theme Parks’ market.

“Greater Sydney is a huge market for theme parks and accommodation,” he said.

“With that area not being allowed in, it had a detrimental effect to not just us but all other small businesses in the city.

Warner Brothers Movie World theme park. Picture: Dave Hunt

“Our hope moving forward is that people do what they’re meant to be doing and there’s consistent decision making to give people the confidence to visit.”

Village Theme Parks are starting to see some interest from Greater Sydney tourists but Mr Randhawa said it was going to take some time.

“We normally see a two-week lag between the border reopening and people booking,” he said.

“We’re not sure what that market has been doing and it might take a few weeks to figure that out.

“I think once consumers see a consistent open border then we’ll see more business.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Sunday Queensland tourism can expect strong bookings for Easter and the school holidays with the Greater Sydney hotspot ending.

“With Queensland open to all Australians again the focus is on getting people to explore and take a holiday in the Sunshine State,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. (News Corp/Attila Csaszar)

“Opening the border to Greater Sydney could result in a $350 million tourism windfall alone.

“That’s what 370,000 Sydneysiders spent in 2019, visiting Queensland for Easter.”

However, police said plans are in place to close the border within 24 hours in the event of another Sydney Northern Beaches-style COVID-19 outbreak.

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