Deputy Premier John Barilaro made it clear yesterday at his press conference that the combined bipartisan appeal from Mayor of Tweed Chris Cherry (Independent), Tweed MP Geoff Provest (Nationals), Ballina MP Tamara Smith (Greens), Lismore MP Janelle Saffin (Labor) and Ballina MLC Catherine Cusack (Liberal) held no weight with him in relation to managing the Queensland–NSW border in relation to COVID-19 outbreak.
‘I listen to the health authorities,’ he told the press conference.
‘We are working with the Queensland government. These guys are jumping the gun.’
Barilaro did acknowledge that the impact on health and medical appointments for people from NSW who rely on Queensland health services had ‘caught us by surprise’.
‘Previously access to hospitals and medical services was not part of the lockdowns,’ he said.
Pushing ahead regardless
However, Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry told The Echo that yesterday afternoon she and the MPs had met with the Cross Border Commissioner to discuss the possibility of having a border checkpoint on the southern Tweed and Byron Shire border.
‘Yesterday afternoon we had a meeting with the Cross Border Commissioner, the MPs and myself who had called for the checkpoint. The commissioner outlined the considerations that would need to be looked at for this to be put in place. There were certainly a lot of issues but they were not insurmountable.
‘The fact is that NSW government has done this in Sydney already. They set up an exclusion zone to stop the protestors entering central Sydney. This shows that the NSW government has the mechanism to set up a checkpoint at the Tweed shire local government area (LGA) border,’ she told The Echo.
Mayor Cherry said there were many people suffering as a result of the strict border closures citing one local who is unable to get treatment for their bad back because their chiropractor is based in Queensland that apparently doesn’t qualify as a medical appointment.
Another person who contacted The Echo described how a recent heart attack victim was transferred to a Queensland hospital but then had to remain in isolation for 14 days before receiving their double heart bypass operation. They were from Northern NSW.
‘All our specialist services are on the Gold Coast, it is a simple matter of geography. That is something that may not be fully understood by people who are not in our border region,’ explained Mayor Cherry.
‘Sydney is close to 1,000km away and the services across the border in Queensland are our local services.’
Friday meeting scheduled
At yesterday’s meeting Mayor Cherry said ‘It was clear that as a group we wanted to push ahead. We have a further meeting on Friday and we are looking to include the relevant Queensland MPs from across the border and the Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. We need to make sure there is the same willingness to do this on the other side of the border and look at what Queensland will need to have this put in place.’
‘This will be a pilot that could be used in the future during similar situations,’ she said.
‘Ultimately we would hope that it would be broadened out to the whole of the Northern Rivers, that is our goal.’
Recent stories, information and updates regarding COVID-19
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Life shows life expectancy in Australia has decreased slightly for the second year in a row. An international team of researchers has found more evidence that COVID-19 came from animals in a Wuhan food market. The lab-leak theory that Covid-19 came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology – instead of a nearby wet market – was thrashed about in public recently, with the US Senate Homeland Security Committee holding a hearing into Covid-19. Eighteen schools in the Northern Rivers division of Richmond have received $25,000 each as part of the federal government’s School Upgrade Fund, Labor Member for Richmond Justine Elliot said last week. COVID-19 reversed earlier trends toward longer life expectancies. During the pandemic, life expectancies globally dropped by 1.6 years according to a new study published in the Lancet medical journal. Let’s not forget that Covid-19 is still a big issue in our community with 31,935 cases reported across Australia in the last week – an average of 4,562 cases per day. The Global Carbon Budget is about to be refreshed, giving the world a critical insight into how efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are (or are not) progressing. Masks will no longer be mandatory on public transport from tomorrow, Wednesday 21 September. SW Police are urging festival-goers at this weekend’s music festival to celebrate in a safe and responsible manner, whilst also being aware of COVID-Safety measures. The Northern NSW Local Health District reports that to 4pm yesterday, Sunday May 22, there were 40 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with one of these in ICU.
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