Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry’s concerns over end of lockdown freedoms

Even as northern NSW lockdown lifts and there is hope beyond the barriers, Tweed’s Mayor worries whether it is too little, too late – and too temporary. WHAT SHE SAID >>>

TWEED Mayor Chris Cherry feels like she is banging her head against a brick wall.

A brick border wall.

As the matriarch of our civic family in northern NSW, the burden of the community’s pain has fallen upon her shoulders.

Cr Cherry can see the suffering, can see the economic and social distress created by the separation of the Tweed Shire from its Queensland ties, but this mayor feels powerless to help.

Even as lockdown for her region is lifted and there is hope on the horizon beyond the border barriers, it seems too little, too late … and too temporary.

And all of this head banging is breaking Cr Cherry’s heart.

“I have asked and would welcome a conversation with (NSW Premier) Gladys Berejiklian about our options right now and moving forward, but I have yet to receive a reply,” says Cr Cherry.

“As the mayor, I am the person in charge here … but I feel so powerless. We have no certainty. Everything can change in a moment – and then change again – and we can’t see what these decisions are based on. We feel locked out of the conversation.

Tweed Mayor Chris Cherry has concerns over the ending of Tweed’s lockdown. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

“The border issue is obviously very complex, you’re dealing with two state governments and local governments, but that’s all the more reason to have clear communication. Even with an open border again, this situation is not really solved.

“It is hard to be a public figure at this time because I can’t serve in the way that I want to do.

“As a councillor over the last few years, I always wanted to represent the community, but as a mayor I feel like this is my family – and I can’t stand to see them in pain.

“We just keep being told what can’t be done … but what we’re asking is what can be done.”

Cr Cherry says even without a hard border closure, the problem still stands.

She says division between the Gold and Tweed Coasts is only ever one Covid case away, and it’s time to create a plan that will solve this issue in the long-term.

“The answer is to move the border checkpoints south of the Tweed Shire – not the Tweed River, as that just creates a new problem.

Residents gather at the NSW-QLD border in Coolangatta. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

“The border bubble is not a long-term solution either, because it is not preventing the Tweed from being exposed to other Covid cases in NSW.

“We just need to move the checkpoints south of the shire and I don’t see why we can’t. NSW has already done it in other places – that’s exactly what the exclusion zone they created for the northern beaches in Sydney was.

“If we set up a Tweed Shire exclusion zone, that means we don’t need to change legislation, we don’t need to use Queensland police and it gives Queensland the confidence to open the border to only the Tweed Shire. That’s where we need to go.”

Cr Cherry says she is desperately worried not just about the current state of the Tweed Shire, but its future as well.

She says the Tweed council has spent years building up its economy and fighting to be recognised against the bigger, brighter lights of the Gold Coast and Byron Bay, yet every day she is watching the loss of all of their hard-fought wins.

“We have put so much energy into building up Tweed Shire, into supporting businesses and making this somewhere that people work, live and play … and we’re just seeing it crumble,” she says.

“Residents are moving out and so are businesses, it’s all too hard.

“For an example, we’ve just lost a refrigeration company that was based in South Tweed and had been there for more than 30 years and had more than 100 employees, they’ve gone to Burleigh. And who can blame them?

“It’s the same for employees who live in the Tweed but work on the Gold Coast … you hope that their positions are held, but a business is a business. They can’t wait forever.

“The long-term effects of this is that we are bleeding people and business. It’s become too difficult to stay in NSW, and why would anyone want to move to this region right now?

“That’s why it’s so crucial that we find a permanent solution to this border, and I believe that means moving the border checkpoints.

“It’s not just about the crisis right now, but the one that will happen next month or next year … we need to provide certainty that we can handle this fluidly and seamlessly if we want people and businesses to have any confidence.”

An emotional scene at the Queensland and NSW border at Coolangatta where two people hold hands that are separated by the border restrictions. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Cr Cherry says although she recognises Queensland’s success in managing Covid, she believes the Tweed Shire should always remain a part of NSW.

Even if the NSW Government does not always seem to understand the hardship the region is experiencing.

“Queensland is doing a great job for its residents … but we don’t want to become part of Queensland,” she says.

“We just want both states to work together to find a solution, and ultimately we are the people of NSW.

“I realise that the NSW Government has been trying to broaden the definition of an essential worker, but that’s only part of the problem. And Queensland has said ‘no’ anyway.

“I think it’s hard sometimes for those in Sydney to see the urgency of our situation. They’re coping with thousands of Covid cases and they must wonder what we’re worried about since we have zero cases.

“But we’re talking about one in five people in this shire cannot work. It’s an economic urgency.

“As I say all this, I know how lucky I am that I have my job. It just breaks my heart that I can’t help the people that I represent.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.”

Cr Cherry says the lockdown and border closures have also affected her own family, and the weight of the shire’s worries have left her mentally and physically fatigued.

Fortunately, she has her own way of finding stress relief.

“Honestly, I do bush regeneration,” she laughs.

“We live on a farm and I just go out and deal with the weeds. It actually really helps. It gets out that physical frustration and I feel like I’m really doing something. It’s therapeutic for me and the environment.

“My daughter is at university in Brisbane and she normally comes home every weekend but we haven’t seen her for so long. She’s only 19 so it’s tough. But I know so many families have it so much worse.

“I think all of us are so fatigued, we are so worn down. Last year when we went through lockdowns and border closures, it was new and seemed temporary and people were keen to do the right thing. Plus, the border might have delayed our days but it didn’t stop our lives.

“This is the worst it’s been yet. What we saw on Father’s Day with the separation of families, what we see on that border line every day with children, pets, tools, everything you can think of being handed over … it’s just surreal. Surreal and tragic.”

Cr Cherry says the disruption to life in the Tweed also meant a change to her own employment.

While locals election were meant to be held on September 4, they have now been extended to December. And while her year as mayor has been unlike anything she expected, she’s ready to do it all again.

“I really want to see this through, I want to see our shire push through the pain and get our lives and businesses back on track,” she says.

“But we can’t do it on our own.

“For now, I just continue to urge our people to get vaccinated … it’s our key to freedom. We’ve reached 60 per cent of residents who have had at least their first shot and we have to keep going.

“We have to keep our eyes on that prize – a border that is open … and stays open.”

Instead of building a wall, it’s time to build a bridge.