Tweed Mayor Katie Milne proposed moving border checks into NSW

Tweed Mayor Katie Milne previously suggested the border blockade could be moved north into the Gold Coast - now she’s pushing for a radically different option due to “extreme distress” in her community.

TWEED Mayor Katie Milne is pushing for the Queensland-New South Wales border blockade to be shifted south of the Tweed Shire to ease her community’s “extreme distress”.

She’s already sent a letter to NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian urging her not to agree with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s request to move the checkpoints to the Tweed River.

Earlier this week, Cr Milne said she was “absolutely opposed” to temporarily moving the border to the river. She suggested the checkpoints should go further north into Queensland.

Ms Berejiklian has already dismissed the idea of taking the border to the river.

Tweed Shire Council Mayor Katie Milne at a council meeting. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Cr Milne said today: “As an alternative, the respective state governments may wish to consider moving the border checkpoints to the southern end of the Tweed Shire where traffic could be more easily controlled.

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“There are only three locations on the Motorway, Tweed Valley Way and Kyogle Road that would require checkpoints. This option would still impact residents and businesses however it is likely to be significantly less than the current arrangements,” she said.

“The proposal by the Queensland Premier to move the checkpoint south to the Tweed River would simply move the same problem into NSW and the Tweed Shire.

A Queensland Police officers stops a NSW registered car at a Queensland-New South Wales border checkpoint. Picture: Scott Powick

“While the border communities are highly interconnected, the communities within the Tweed Shire are connected to an even greater degree.”

Cr Milne said if the border was moved to the river many businesses including “one of the largest local food suppliers to our restaurants and cafes” would suffer, as would Tweed Shire Council, one of the largest employers in the Tweed.

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She slammed the Queensland Government’s implementation of the border blockade.

“I support the Queensland Premier’s border control but the management needs to be far more considerate of our border communities to relieve the havoc and extreme distress on our residents and businesses,” she said.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: David Clark

“We understand that new systems can experience problems but this should have been foreseen. This can and must be resolved through quicker processing of people at the checkpoint. Thankfully, this seems to be improving but still has a long way to go.

“Council is not a decision maker in the border arrangements and we do not have the authority to alter them. We can only advocate for our community.

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“We assure Tweed residents affected by the delays that we are working with the NSW and Qld Government and police as much as we can.”

Cr Milne previously said the checkpoints should be “moved further to the Bilinga-Tugun area as this is a Queensland initiative”.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

“They need to take responsibility to fix it or bear the burden in their own state not ours,” she said.

Tweed leaders including Cr Milne also expressed concerns any permanent border move, as suggested by politicians including Mayor Tom Tate, would lead to overdevelopment and a sprawl of unwanted high-rises in the shire.