Hopes high Queensland’s hard border with NSW will lift as restrictions are eased

The lockdown is expected to be lifted for some regional parts of New South Wales on Friday, including the Northern Rivers. Now residents say they hope that will prompt an easing of Queensland’s hard border.

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro said that areas beyond the transmission sites, like the Mid-North Coast, should not be in a continued lockdown.

“You can’t suppress what doesn’t exist,” he said.

Businesses and residents in the Tweed-Coolangatta have been hit hard by the strictest border closure yet, with a limited list of ‘essential workers’ allowed to cross. 

Coolangatta business owner Debbie McGovern is calling for a border bubble, imploring the Queensland and New South Wales premiers to come to a decision to make life easier for people battling with the separated community. 

“Let’s hope it works and let’s hope Annastacia (Palaszczuk) opens this part as well,” Ms McGovern said. 

“It is a double-edged sword, both girls (Annastacia Palaszczuk and Gladys Berejiklian) have got to stop knocking their heads together and get on with it, we’ve got to open up.”

A trip to the blockade with supplies and paperwork has become a daily routine for Ms McGovern, who runs a security locksmithing business which services Queensland and New South Wales.

“We have people that want security stuff done, keys or anything and we have to walk up here, do our paperwork over the border, it’s ridiculous really.” 

Gemma Beaumont and her partner, both unable to work due to the lockdown, are surviving on disaster payments.   

“It’s affected us in a big way as I can’t work and my partner can’t work, my business has had to shut down,” Ms Beaumont said. 

The beauty therapist had high hopes of being released from lockdown, but was expecting the worst.  

“That would be horrible.”

Capturing history 

Kym Cassanova spent her day off taking photos along what she dubs as the ‘great wall of Coolangatta’.

“I decided to do the great wall of Coolangatta walk – so I started up at the top at D-Bah I’m following right along the border line just to have a look and have a look at a bit of history in the making,” Mrs Cassanova said.

The border through town has become a popular spot for business transactions as well as a place for family and friends to reunite.

“It’s just devastating for all the local businesses, so many people are just never going to recover from this.”