Qld NSW border: Border bubble to be replaced with border zone at Goondiwindi

With Darling Downs residents at breaking point over the border farce, amplified this week by new local cases, new rules have been introduced for communities on the cusp of the border.

A border community south of Toowoomba has ‘stood up’ its Local Disaster Management Group as a new border strategy is proposed that demolishes the original “border bubble”.

Goondiwindi Regional Council mayor Lawrence Springborg said between the pandemic, mice plagues, flooding and locust infestations, residents were at “breaking point”.

“This current situation has had a dramatic impact on our community, including workers, students and businesses, and will be with us for some time,” he said.

“As difficult as things are now, if Covid-19 comes across the border into our region, the situation and impact on our community could be much worse and place us in lockdown, or more severely limit our interactions.

“Our LGA continues to lead the nation with vaccination rates and that is the only real way out of this in the immediate future.”

Mr Springborg said a new “border zone” would replace the contentious “border bubble” rules.

“The current situation is precarious, given that New South Wales has largely lost control of the containment of the virus and has locked down the entire state,” he said.

“That is the reason why we cannot continue to have a ‘border bubble’ like we were previously privileged to enjoy.

“The new Border Zone, as recognised and implemented by the Queensland chief health officer, gives residents on either side of the border a degree of movement under very strict conditions not available to others outside the Border Zone in NSW.

“These current restrictions will be difficult to change until the NSW Government controls the virus and relaxes restrictions.”

Southwest Queensland is on high alert after a Covid-positive truck driver stayed the night in St George.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a two-week pause on relocations to Queensland as the state’s quarantine hotels reached capacity.

It comes as the state records no new Covid cases and two truck drivers who tested positive on Tuesday being classified as false positives.