A tale of two cities: Sydney’s Covid shocker as Brisbane masks up

Shock photos have emerged of unmasked Sydneysiders crowding Bronte Beach and shopping centre despite the dangerous Delta outbreak sweeping their state, as Brisbane continues to mask up in a bid to fight off the threat from NSW.

Millions of Queenslanders are facing weeks of chaos after the State Government reintroduced border checkpoints, locked out all of NSW and toughened mask restrictions in a bid to stop the pandemic’s alarming new surge.

The move came as shock photos emerged of unmasked Sydneysiders crowding Bronte Beach and shopping centre in seemingly blissful defiance of the dangerous Delta outbreak sweeping their state.

A police car drives past a strip of cafes packed with people at Bronte Beach, despite Sydney’s worsening Covid crisis. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

In contrast, Queenslanders have formed a united front in their compliance with tough restrictions and it’s paid off with zero new cases yesterday despite the looming threat from NSW.

Brisbane citizens wearing masks while out and about in the CBD on Thursday. Picture: David Clark

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate slammed selfish southerners for helping spread Covid while Queenslanders did the right thing, only to be hit by another disruptive border blockade .

“It’s pretty disheartening to see those photos when we’ve done everything we can by introducing a hard border closure to stop the spread of this latest outbreak,” he said.

“Gold Coasters will be disappointed to know some Sydneysiders are clearly flouting the rules.”

The Palaszczuk Government yesterday eased some restrictions on Queenslanders but it came at a cost, with dreaded border checkpoints back in place five months after they were dismantled.

A mask mandate was also extended for a further week and tightened, with a requirement to now wear masks everywhere except in homes and cars.

The tough new measures came after NSW recorded 124 new Covid cases, Victoria 28 and South Australia 6. Queensland had no new cases yesterday and no community transmissions for over a week.

Southern Queensland and northern NSW residents crossing the border for work, school, medical appointments and shopping were bracing for major delays, with checkpoints back in force from 1am Friday.

Motorists endured traffic snarls of up to two hours trying to get through the checkpoints during the previous two border closures from March to December last year and January to February this year, and there are fears of similar chaos this time.

The latest hard border closure will also lock out millions of tourists and day-trippers from NSW in another shattering blow to Queensland tourism and hospitality operators.

But Acting Premier Steven Miles said Queensland restrictions could not be eased without ‘greater protection’ from the worrying spread of Covid through the southern states.

“We need to be able to reduce that risk,” he said.

“In order to be able to ease these restrictions, we need to close the border to the rest of NSW. Police will be installing checkpoints at key locations along the border.”

Mr Miles said a border zone would be in place, allowing people living close to the state line to cross for work, education, medical appointments and essential shopping.

The border ‘bubble’ will extend as far south as the Clarence Valley in northern NSW and west to the Queensland-South Australia border.

Gold Coast Chamber Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said the hard border closure was not unexpected given the worsening Covid crisis in the southern states, but it did not lessen the pain for local business owners.

“It was probably a foregone conclusion - it was inevitable really - but it will continue to wound us,” he said.

“It’s just been a rolling boxing match really.”

Mr Hall said the return of border checkpoints on the southern Gold Coast was probably necessary ‘but the timing is always interesting around these decisions’.

“You’ve got footballers’ wives getting moved around the state,” he said, referring to the relocation of NRL teams and their families to Queensland.

“Unfortunately, we’ve just got to adapt and make it work. It just saps confidence and snuffs out any glimmer of hope we had.”

People in Brisbane have been taking the mask mandate seriously. Picture: David Clark

The border closure is another setback for the state’s ailing tourism industry on the back of three consecutive school holiday periods being virtually obliterated by outbreaks and lockdowns.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said it would push many operators to the brink.

“It will take us precariously close to the September school holidays and missing out again (on another holiday period) would be very cruel for the industry,” he said.

“We are effectively cut off from two thirds of our customer pool and we can only rely on Queenslanders for so long.”

Gold Coast Airport had been on track to return to pre-Covid passenger numbers but they plummeted after planes stopped flying from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Queensland Airports Ltd CEO Chris Mills said passenger numbers had risen to 80 percent of pre-Covid levels in May but plunged to 10 per cent this week.

“The airport was on track to reach 100 per cent of pre-COVID-19 capacity this month but that milestone will now be out of reach for some time,” he said.

“We know the lack of passengers flows on to the thousands of tourism businesses in the city that were counting on a busy July holiday period.”

Despite lockdown restrictions in Sydney, these people were out and about, without a mask, at Bronte Beach on Thursday. Picture: Jenny Evans/Getty Images

Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said it was yet another “hard blow” for the industry.

““Our thoughts are with everyone in lockdown in Greater Sydney and Central West, Victoria and South Australia and we hope that the situation can be managed as swiftly as possible.

“This is a particularly challenging period for Gold Coast’s tourism sector and ...we need to work with government to help get our businesses through this difficult period as they need support.“It is a timely reminder that we are not yet out of the woods and the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine across Australia is critical for our recovery ongoing.”

Coast Mayor Tom Tate said the hard closure was ‘not what we want’ but had to happen, and urged residents to support local businesses doing it tough.

“It’s not what we want ... it’s not what businesses need but we have to protect our residents,’ he said.

“The State Government has made this decision based on health advice.

“I’ve long called for a Tweed-Gold Coast border bubble and I am confident the police and state officials are working on making that happen.

“Right now, I urge Gold Coasters to buy local in every way they can to help all our businesses, particularly the southern border businesses.’’

People gather at Sydney’s Bronte Beach, many without masks, despite “stay home” orders. Picture: Rachael Tosh-Provan

The tradeoff for Queenslanders from the hard border closure is an easing of some restrictions, including increasing venue capacities and a lifting of caps at weddings and funerals.

But in a blow to the NRL and AFL after Queensland again helped save both code’s seasons, stadium capacities have been reduced to 75 per cent.

And fans will have to wear masks in stadiums at all times after Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young ordered the mask mandate to be extended for another week.

Dr Young said people should now wear masks ‘at all times’ unless they were at home, in their cars, exercising or had medical issues.

Originally published as A tale of two cities: Sydney’s Covid shocker as Brisbane masks up