South Australia opens its borders to the ACT but keeps them CLOSED to New South Wales despite low coronavirus infection rates
- SA Premier Steven Marshall was tipped to reopen his state to NSW and the ACT
- The border ruling was made at the state's transition committee on Tuesday
- ACT residents will be allowed to enter SA without 14 days of quarantine
- The state remains closed to residents from NSW due to coronavirus concerns
- The new restrictions will come into effect at midnight on Tuesday
South Australia will open its borders to allow residents from the ACT into the state but remain closed to New South Wales.
The South Australian Transition Committee met on Tuesday morning and decided the new border restrictions would come into effect at midnight.
ACT residents will be able to enter the state without completing a 14 day mandatory quarantine while NSW residents will remain subject to the restrictions.
'Effective midnight tonight the requirement to quarantine will be lifted for people travelling between ACT and South Australia,' Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said.
South Australia announced it would open to residents from the ACT on Tuesday, allowing residents to travel to the state without spending 14-days in quarantine (Barossa Valley pictured)
SA Premier Steven Marshall (pictured) said the restrictions would be altered in line with health advice. The state is expected to remain closed to NSW 'for the foreseeable future'
He said the 14 day quarantine would remain in place for NSW residents 'for the foreseeable future'.
'The advice from the Chief Public health Officer is that we want to see a better situation in terms of community transmission before we relax the restrictions on NSW,' Commissioner Stevens explained.
Travellers from the ACT will still be required to fill out approval forms and declarations they have not been in a coronavirus hotspot prior to travelling.
'You can only come from ACT by air because to come by road you would have to travel through NSW and then the 14 day quarantine period would apply,' he said.
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SA Premier Steven Marshall previously said he would not do anything that was contrary to health advice.
'We want to give as much of a leg up to those people who want to travel as soon as possible,' the premier said on Monday.
'I'm very keen to open that border the minute I get the advice that it's safe to do so.'
The eased restrictions will allow families to be reunited in the lead up to the September school holidays and the October long weekend.
In other changes to coronavirus rules, the premier said he was hopeful crowds of up to 25,000, or about 50 per cent capacity, would be possible at Adelaide Oval for any AFL finals matches.
The eased restrictions will allow families to be reunited for the September school holidays and the October long weekend. Pictured: Dolphin Bay on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
SA reported no new virus cases on Monday, leaving the state's total since the start of the pandemic at 466. Pictured: Murray River
He said significant crowds were at games over the weekend, and SA Health officials were reviewing how those games were managed to consider any next steps in increasing numbers.
SA reported no new virus cases on Monday, leaving the state's total since the start of the pandemic at 466.
The state has no active infections.
Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has faced growing calls to reopen her state for the sake of the national economy.
The pandemic-induced lockdowns and border restrictions have jeopardised one million tourism jobs, and are set to cost the country a whopping $54.6billion this year.
But on Monday, Ms Palaszczuk doubled down on her stance, telling reporters she is prepared lose the election to maintain hard borders and keep COVID-19 out of her state.
The premier has come under sustained fire from federal Coalition politicians like Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and the state's opposition Liberal National Party over the Queensland's strict border policies in recent weeks.
Political opponents have accused Ms Palaszczuk of being heartless for not being more lenient about exemptions on compassionate grounds ahead of the election on October 31.
She's promised to speed up the exemption application process, but she will stake her political future on keeping borders shut.
'Now if it means I have to lose the election, I will risk all that if it means keeping Queenslanders safe,' Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has doubled-down on her hard-border restrictions despite growing calls for the state to reopen
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