Premier vows to look into Gold Coast funeral directors being barred from collecting bodies from Tweed

The Queensland premier has backed the need for funeral directors and mortuary workers to be able to take bodies across the Queensland-NSW border. Here’s what she plans to do.

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has backed the need for funeral directors and mortuary workers to be able to cross the Queensland-NSW border.

The Bulletin revealed on Monday that Queensland Police had told staff of a Gold Coast funeral home they would not be permitted back into the state from Tuesday because they weren’t considered essential workers.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

The move sparked outrage from industry figures and political leaders.

Ms Palaszczuk, speaking on the Gold Coast, said she was unaware of the issue but vowed to look into it.

“The exemptions unit at Queensland Health will look into that very closely,” she said.

“Tragically when people pass away we need to make sure funeral directors can go about their business.

“I’ll pass that along to the exemptions unit.”

Border chaos: Coast funeral directors barred from collecting bodies

August 17: Coast funeral directors will be barred from collecting the bodies of loved ones in Tweed Heads from Tuesday under tough new border restrictions.

The bodies will have to be put in cold storage rooms until mortuary staff are allowed in to prepare them for burial.

Funeral and mortuary staff are not considered essential workers and are not among those who are allowed to cross between NSW and Queensland under the hard line controls introduced over the weekend after Tweed went into a snap seven-day lockdown.

Staff from Burleigh Heads-based Heritage Brothers funeral home say they were told by Queensland Police they would not be allowed back across the border from Tuesday morning if they entered northern NSW.

Wes Heritage, a third-generation funeral director, has three offices – in Burleigh, Tweed Heads and Chinderah – but only one of his 13 staff lives in NSW.

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The former national president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association said the government had “not thought through” their ban on mortuary workers crossing the border.

“I have bodies in my mortuary at Tweed that my embalmer cannot get to, people in Coolangatta that are to be buried in Tweed but only one of my staff live on the NSW side,” he said.

“What do I do if a client dies in Tweed tonight? Who do I call?

“If somebody dies on the wrong side of the border, how will we be able to service the family and bring the deceased person into our care?

“These families are already stressed about how many people are allowed to attend funerals and (the ban) is even worse on those who have got prepaid funerals.”

Funeral directors say they will not be allowed to cross the border to care for the deceased.

Queensland Health was approached for comment.

Burleigh MP Michael Hart called for urgent intervention from the state government.

“I have funeral directors who are telling me that if someone dies in NSW and they are charged with the care of the remains they do not know what to do because their workers have been told they cannot get back into Queensland,” he said.

“This is a serious problem which will affect families who are at the worst time of their lives while having to face the reality that their chosen funeral directors will be unable to pick up the bodies of the deceased.

“I mean, for God sake, something needs to be done.”

There was chaos at the NSW border on Monday, with significant delays and drivers turned back for not meeting the criteria of essential workers.

More than 500 vehicles were rejected by police on Sunday alone during the first 24 -hours of the border restrictions.

And they are set to get tougher, with only workers who have had their first Covid jab allowed to cross as of Friday.

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