There seems to be a lot of controversy at the moment around the QLD Governments decision to keep the border closed.
Just thought I would see what OzBargain thought and what is your reasons behind it?
Should QLD Open The Border to NSW?
Ltasty-falafel on 08/10/2020 - 15:24
Poll Options
- 178Yes - Open immediately
- 2Yes - Change to between 1-10 days with no community transfer
- 26Yes - Change to between 11-20 days with no community transfer
- 323Yes - Only after 28 days of no community transfer
- 40No - Keep the border closed until there is a COVID-19 vaccine
Comments
It was designed to be super contagious - so once the federal government and nsw governments let it in it is now extremely difficult to contain.
Sadly the same government stooges are still trying to spread it by opening up all borders.
And the lack of education about the after effects of infection reveals the reality of that assertion. When is the Australian media gonna start talking about the lifetime after effects of covid - for those that survive?
Whats the real agenda here now - driving a dodgy compulsory innoculation that does what exactly? Something is clearly not right in Oz
@petry: I think most people know about the short-term and long term dangers of contracting COVID, but you need to stop fear-mongering. Who said the inoculation being developed was dodgy?
@Scanlia: Everyone except the pollies - and its not fearmongering - its the truth.
Anyone thinking about taking down borders and restrictions is entitled to know the truth.
No?
As Morrison, Berejiklian & Frecklington keep saying. Those are the LNP talking points, direct from the PM’s office. But months ago Qld offered to shift the Covid border further south to encapsulate border communities, and Berejiklian rejected it. We now have a complex border bubble compromise. Note that these border issues seem to be only an issue for NSW borders. As for hot spots, these are problematic without clear, policable borders, such as how do you prevent citizens travelling in or out of a greater Sydney hot spot? History shows asking people not to travel outside an area is insufficient.
It absolutely is difficult and not clear cut. What I don’t understand is that the QLD didn’t restrict any movement when there were community cases with QLD e.g. Toowoomba, Ipswich and Logan but stopped people from going to areas in with no COVID - even to see dying relatives. I agree there’s nothing to stop people moving around in NSW, but as it stands I can go to Tweed and have coffee with a friend from Sydney if I choose. What’s your source for Berejiklian rejecting the borderzone being expanded?
Qld did place restrictions during community transmission. As well as different covid rules, people were asked not to travel between affected and non-affected areas, but I dont think travel was policed. Similar in that regard to NSW. And probably for the reason I mentioned about hot spots … it's near impossible.
New Queensland COVID-19 restrictions are in place
NSW Premier rejects plea to move QLD border checkpoint
NSW rejects Premier's request for southern border shift
Gladys Berejiklian refuses to apologise for blocking ACT@BigBirdy: 'Qld did place restrictions during community transmission'
They made general suggestions but they didn't stop people going in and out of those areas like they are doing with place in NSW with 0 cases. There was absolutely nothing stopping me from going from the Gold Coast when there was no cases to Logan where there were cases at the time (I didn't, but I could have). My friend went to the flower festival in Toowoomba whilst there was active cases there and then back to Gold Coast. Another friends family all came from Toowoomba to the Gold Coast for a BBQ when there were cases in Toowoomba. They weren't breaking restrictions.Moving the border checkpoint was just about traffic and would have been extremely complex having QLD police officers operating in NSW. They were only talking about moving it to South of the Tweed river which is less distance than the borderzone extended even before it opened up further on 1 Oct. I'm talking about places still outside the borderzone that have had 0 cases of COVID, some ever. At least for compassionate reasons people should be able to move in and out of these areas without facing hotel quarantine. At the moment if someone goes to a funeral or see a dying relative in Port Macquarie, they would not even be given an exemption to home quarantine, even if they've got kids they'd need to quarantine with, complex medical needs etc. Meanwhile, there's Queenslanders getting together with Sydney relatives for holidays in Tweed and Byron.
In my opinion there's a lot of politics before reason and compassion going on. I'm normally a labor or greens voter, have never voted LNP and still probably won't, but I've been really unimpressed with the point scoring and lack of compassion and consistency from the QLD Labor government.
@morse: The Qld govt placed different restrictions on those areas with an outbreak and asked people to limit travel, as I said. That you and your friend chose to ignore that is a reflection on you. And, as I said, it's near impossible to enforce hot spot travel restrictions. People might live in one, and work or visit their doctor in another. In those early discussions about shifting the border back in July, I don't believe either the exact location of where it would be moved or who would police it were discussed. I assume it'd be placed in unpopulated areas.
In my opinion, you are rabbiting political talking points from the LNP, and ignoring the facts as addressed in the articles I listed, as well as misreading the fairly simple info I gave you. And as for compassion, tell us why our LNP federal politicians currently bleating about the Qld govt, will allow former LNP politicians and wealthy yacht owners to cross our international borders, but family, sick, those attending funerals, etc are rejected?
@BigBirdy: There were no restrictions on movement within QLD with the most recent current cases of community transmitted covid. Recommendations but not restrictions. And I followed the recommendations, but my friend didn’t, which she didn’t have to.
As I said I’ve never voted LNP and still probably won’t this time. My assessment of QLD govt is based on what I’ve seen and that is restricting movement to places with no covid even for compassionate reason just due to the state border based and not restricting movement within QLD where there are cases even if it’s just for leisure.
I really hope you don’t have to miss seeing family before they pass away like me and so many others have - it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve experienced. My comments have nothing to do with LNP and everything to do with mine and others experience and he lack of reason behind policies.
@morse: Most of family are in Melbourne, and I had a close family friend die there during the current lockdown. I was sad I couldn't go to his funeral, but understand it would be highly risky to my community here in Qld.
@BigBirdy: That’s unfortunate sorry for your losses. My dad passed away completely alone in an area with 0 covid cases, so IMO not a risk to the QLD community. Lots of others have experienced the same. If my dad had been in the PAH where there were cases both in the community and hospital. I could have been with him, but not in the hospital where he was where the entire region for 100kms around had been covid free for months. I’d like restrictions to be based on actual hotspots not state borders.
I love the argument that the shutdown is affecting our economy. Freight can still get from a to b, people can still holiday in their own state. All the border closures are stopping is unnecessary travel, with anything outside of this permitted on a case by case basis.
Yes there are people that work across the border, but they get an exemption.You know whats worse than a semi functioning economy?!
One that ceases to function because of COVID.Ok so I'm intending to spend time in the NSW border zone – road trip etc then return to Qld, does anyone have a detailed map of the actual zone as the ones on the Qld Health website are terrible https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/99… (I used to work in cartography they are laughable with no real detail). I was hoping a google map version may have been created where you can tell where the border zone ends showing roads and places rather than having to try to decipher by postcodes and electoral / postal boundaries, which is a nightmare.
cheers
Absolutely. I just think the way it is now isn’t actually reducing the spread. There’s a lot of contradictions.
e.g. I wasn’t able to visit my father with a new cancer diagnosis on the mid North Coast of NSW (0 cases anywhere near) without facing hotel quarantine on returning. My friend went to Toowoomba where there were community cases at the same time and then visited Brisbane and Gold Coast with no quarantine.
I have QLD friends who have met up with family from Sydney within the bubble.
So to me the border restrictions as they stand now defy reason.
I absolutely do care about stopping COVID and the lives it could affect.I don’t go to the packed bars I walk past everyday in QLD. I actually socially distance. I didn’t go to Ikea when there was the outbreak in Logan even though there’s a heap of stuff I wanted from there. I didn’t have a party for my 1yos birthday. I just don’t see how tearing families apart living in areas like Port Macquarie, Coffs Harbour, Forster etc, especially when people have their last opportunity to see parents and children before they die helps.