GC mayor urges rethink on Qld-NSW border
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has urged the premiers of Queensland and NSW to ensure any border closure doesn't impact too harshly on locals.
There's growing concern the Queensland government will close its NSW border amid the worsening COVID-19 outbreak in Greater Sydney.
Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have already closed their borders to NSW, but Queensland is only restricting entry for travellers from Greater Sydney.
With NRL teams from Sydney flying to COVID-safe hubs in Queensland on Wednesday, many believe the border will be shut not long after they've touched down.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says the border will stay open, but has been urging residents in regional NSW to come home for days.
"If it gets to the stage that we have to close we will," she told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Tate has called for any border closure to ensure traffic flows freely between Tweed Heads in NSW and Coolangatta across the border.
He says that will help protect locals' jobs and allow them to use airports, hospitals and schools on both sides of the state line.
"We cannot take this lightly," Mr Tate said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Surely, a number-plate recognition system or similar could be quickly established to avoid the huge M1 delays we all saw over the last 12 months."
The mayor also called for a limited JobKeeper-style payment for border residents impacted by any closure.
Mr Tate said the federal government should help anyone unable to get to work or open their businesses.
"If a political decision is made that decimates people's incomes, a federal political decision should be made to restore some of that income through JobKeeper," he said.
The Queensland government has said COVID-19 cases or positive sewage testing results north of Sydney in regional NSW would lead to a reconsideration of the open border.
Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young spoke with her NSW counterpart Kerry Chant about a new community case in Goulburn, south of Sydney, on Tuesday afternoon.
"I just need to go through all the risks and what it means," Dr Young said on Tuesday.
Authorities are also testing people for COVID-19 after one of the two locally acquired cases recorded in Queensland on Tuesday was infectious in the community on the Sunshine Coast.
Initially Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the cases were of no concern, but Queensland Health later issued an alert after finding out one of the cases had been infectious longer than first thought.
New exposure sites have been listed in Noosa, Kenilworth, Eumundi and Sunshine Beach, including a newsagency, cafe, pharmacy, liquor store and a bakery visited at various times between June 28 and July 1.
Anyone who visited the venues at the times listed on the Queensland Health website is advised to get tested immediately and self-quarantine until a negative result is received.
