Queensland election: Border with NSW set to open on November 1
The Premier appeared to offer some flexibility around a demand of 28 days without community transmission.
Queensland’s borders to NSW could still open on November 1, despite recent cases of community transmission.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, campaigning at a factory in the Brisbane suburb of Murarrie (Labor, Bulimba), said Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young had not delivered health advice on the reopening yet.
“As the Deputy Premier said this morning, those decisions will be made at the end of the month, and we are looking at the community transmission,” she said.
“But they have been able to get on top of a lot of those issues, we’re looking forward to seeing that health advice.”
Asked whether NSW had met the 28 days of no community transmission landmark, Ms Palaszczuk said Dr Young took “into consideration a whole range of issues”.
“Including their sewage testing, their rate of testing, she’ll provide her advice to government about those very important matters,” she said.
Ms Palaszczuk said it was a “cordial” national cabinet meeting on Friday morning, and noted there was a national hope the nation would be reopened by December.
She said Queensland was happy to take an extra 150 international arrivals into hotel quarantine.
Ms Palaszczuk said despite NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian raising concerns about QLD’s COVID-19 policies recently, Ms Berejiklian did not bring up anything in national cabinet.
Asked about a flight from Laos carrying vulnerable Australians that was apparently stopped from landing in Cairns, Ms Palaszczuk said that would be an issue for the federal government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had alleged it was the Queensland authorities that blocked it.
But Ms Palaszczuk said there was no reason it could not have landed in Brisbane.
“They’re coming from international, there’s no reason why they can’t come to Brisbane. You’d have to ask the federal government. I’m not in control of when international flights come in …”
“You’d have to ask the federal government, international arrivals are a matter for the federal government,” she said.
“We have a capacity … but at the moment, the majority of our international arrivals are coming through Brisbane. That’s where the majority of police, and hotels (are).”
Ms Palaszczuk said she did not have details of the incident.
She said in the last several weeks, the federal government had not reached the 1000-person limit of international arrivals into Queensland.
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