Bold plan to move Queensland border south shut down

Calls to move the Queensland border south to follow the Tweed River in NSW has been brutally shut down by the state’s deputy premier.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro has dashed the hopes of thousands who signed a petition to move Queensland’s hard border 7km south to follow the Tweed River rather than keep it at the current location.

A petition launched earlier this week by the member for Richmond Justine Elliot urged the NSW government to accept an offer to move the hard border south to Chinderah from its current position. The petition has so far been met with more than 8000 signatures.

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Deputy Premier John Barilaro has shut down the idea of moving the NSW/QLD border. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass

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Tweed Heads MP Geoff Provest didn’t support the proposal, citing the idea as simply “moving a problem” and would result in a situation that would be “a terrible outcome for locals”.

“For example if Queensland were to go into a hard lockdown that would put all residents south of the Tweed River in jeopardy and unable to access their own police station and hospital,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Far from being ‘on your side’ as she claims, Richmond Labor MP Justine Elliot appears to be working for the people of Queensland Labor Party, not the people of the Tweed.”

Mr Provest’s comments were echoed by the deputy premier on Thursday, after the state of NSW recorded 681 locally acquired cases of Covid-19 and a further death.

“Can I say to the communities in the Northern Rivers especially Tweed, if you move that border, that cliff edge becomes another border for another community,” Mr Barilaro said.

“When you start dividing up New South Wales, you’ll cause more problems than actually

solving solutions.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said moving the border would simply create more problems rather than solve anything. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“So for us, the cross border commission and James McTavish [Cross-border commissioner] is working with the Queensland counterparts to make it easier to cross the border, especially for the critical supply chains.

“The border cannot move and should not move because there would be unintended consequences that would actually have worse and more negative outcomes for the broader part of the Northern Rivers.”

The Daily Telegraph reports that despite thousands signing the petition to move the Queensland-NSW border zone south, cross border commissioner James McTavish said he had not been approached by the Queensland government in relation to the proposal.

“I have not been canvassed for my views official by Queensland or New South Wales authorities,” Mr McTavish said.

“It is a similar proposal to what was pitched in 2020 and was not endorsed due to the very complex legal issues associated with resourcing.”

Calls to move the NSW/QLD state border have been shut down by the NSW Government. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

It’s not the first time calls to have the Queensland border moved south to follow the Tweed River have been made and subsequently rejected.

In July 2020, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk shut down calls made by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate to move the border to stop a repeat of the financial stress border-side businesses have endured during the coronavirus crisis.

At the time, Mr Tate said the changes to border entry requirements into Queensland from border communities into Queensland had resulted in massive traffic jams and frustration among visitors.

“The city’s northern border goes all the way to the Logan River. Why not have the southern one go to the Tweed River,” he argued.

“But because it makes sense, the state politicians will not do it.

“Mother nature has the Tweed River there and all I am saying is have the border line there.

Ms Palaszczuk, however, said at the time that the idea had been “rejected” by the NSW government several months ago.

The discussion around moving the border south to follow the Tweed River has been lingering for years. Picture Glenn Hampson

Earlier this week, Ms Palaszczuk’s request to have defence force assistance at border vehicle checkpoints was granted, following the massive COVID-19 outbreak in NSW

The 100-strong company will start assisting police from next week

“The Premier has welcomed the federal government’s agreement to Queensland’s request, providing 100 soldiers to reinforce our border,” a spokeswoman from the Premier’s department said in a statement.

A spokeswoman from the office of Defence Minister Peter Dutton said troops would strategically located across the NSW-Qld border.

“Defence has received a request to assist Queensland Police Service with maintenance of Vehicle Control Points to restrict non-essential travel at strategic border locations,” she said.

The news comes after Ms Palaszczuk earlier warned that just one case in the state would lead to a snap lockdown, as they further tightened border restrictions with NSW.

The number of essential workers able to cross into Queensland from the virus-ravaged southern state will be further limited in order to prevent otherwise “inevitable” lockdowns, Premier Palaszczuk said on Wednesday.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said NSW rejected calls to move the border in mid-2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Queensland disbanded the previous border bubble zone, allowing only people who cannot reasonably obtain goods or medical care in NSW, and just 11 categories of essential workers to cross into the Sunshine State.

It was later added that those essential workers would need to prove they had been inoculated with at least one dose of the virus to police at the crossing from Friday.

But, after New South Wales recorded 633 cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and a further 681 on Thursday, Ms Palaszczuk said even tighter restrictions were required.

The tighter restrictions may be announced in coming days.