The Northern Rivers and Gold Coast communities that sit on either side of the NSW and Queensland borders have always been intertwined. Business, health, family, work and education are all impacted by the hard border closure. Now Members of Parliament (MP), Councillors and Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) from all sides of the political spectrum and both sides of the border are calling for the establishment of a Tweed Cross Border Community Zone as a solution to combat the growing border crisis.
Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry spoke on behalf of the leaders saying ‘Every day we’re hearing case after case of the dire impacts the border closure is having on our families and businesses across the Northern Rivers’.
‘All our specialist [health] 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,’ Mayor Cherry told The Echo last week.
‘Sydney is close to 1,000km away and the services across the border in Queensland are our local services.’
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If you are a business or an individual that has been impacted either from the Northern Rivers region or the Gold Coast, your stories are relevant and the group are asking that you fill out a survey to let them know the challenges and issues you are facing.
Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry told The Echo they hope that a border checkpoint at teh Tweed and Byron Shire border will be a pilot project that will lead to the establishment of a Northern Rivers border zone ensuring businesses and residents can move as needed between southern Queensland and northern NSW as was previously the case with the border bubble.
The Qld border has not only affected myself but my husband also..
I’m a teacher who works in Qld but lives in NSW. Luckily for me I went on maternity leave just after the border closed but my husband who works one Qld is now on Centrelink payments. We’d prefer not to be and he’d prefer to be at work. We have our first child arriving any day now and our income has been quite literally cut in half. I know others are worse off but wouldn’t the government prefer us working than putting the country further in debt..?
I am sick to death of hearing that the border sghould be moved south into NSW. Give me a break!!! Why should NSW PAY for Qld hard border?
Qld can move the border north to the Currumbin Creek, that way people can get to work, doctors, hospitals without a hassel.
The bonus of this is we, NSW residents, will not be paying for what Qld wants.
I live within 5 mins by car of Griffith St., my family are so angry that just getting our medical care mean we have to jump through hoops and even then we are not sure we will be allowed to cross.
So much for one country, our state NSW has not locked its borders with Qld.
As a European living in the area for over 25 years it is impossible how QLD think they are in it by themselves. You would never hear of a lock down in Holland between North and South Holland states. Unbelievable. My husband runs a wholesale business with clients / shops in Southern QLD and all the way to Noosa. He is not allowed to deliver his goods. He is not allowed to pick up his freight coming in from overseas. It is absolutely insane. I have a friend who had a MRI scheduled for his heart. With 1 jab, 2 COVID tests and letters from the medical facility and he was turned back. The website doesn’t even explain very well what is and isn’t allowed. So you show up only to be send back. I am so sick of QLD government that I would like to boycott all the services and shopping I do there although I feel sorry for the ‘little guys that are also doing it tough’. I am looking for a new dental service in Tweed now as there is just no way of relying on QLD. We never know whether or not we are allowed in to fly from Coolangatta. It is a disgrace and inhuman. Especially when I hear from my friends that are nurses and midwives in the Gold Coast. The teachers are not essential??? Are they out of their minds???
I’m in Tweed. My husband works away and has to fly to Brisbane Airport to get to and from work every fortnight. I haven’t seen him for almost 3 months due to border closures. No Father’s Day with the kids…