Open for Christmas! Queensland will open border with New South Wales on December 1 - and allow visitors from Victoria if they record just one more Covid-free day
Queensland will open its borders to Greater Sydney on 1 December after the city recorded no mystery cases of Covid-19 for 28 days in a row.
The Sunshine State, which is already open to the rest of NSW, will also re-open to Victoria on the same day if it records another day of zero new cases on Wednesday.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the news on Tuesday morning, saying: 'We know how tough this has been on families. This is a great day. It's exciting news.
Best phone call I have had in ages. Pleased to hear from @AnnastaciaMP the Queensland/NSW border will come down on 1 December!
— Gladys Berejiklian (@GladysB) November 24, 2020
Best phone call I have had in ages. Pleased to hear from @AnnastaciaMP the Queensland/NSW border will come down on 1 December!
'Now is the time, if you live in New South Wales, come to Queensland, start planning that holiday. We would love to have your business.
'It means jobs for Queenslanders. And as you know, Queensland, beautiful one day, perfect the next,' she said with a smile.
South Australians remain locked out of Queensland after a cluster in Adelaide last week, with a border review at the end of the month.
Premier Palaszczuk said the state would move to a hotspot model and would only shut the borders again if there were a 'major outbreak'.
The decision comes after weeks of public pressure from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian who said Queensland was 'setting the bar too high' with its strict border rules.
Queensland will open its borders to Greater Sydney on 1 December after the city recorded no mystery cases of Covid-19 for 28 days in a row. Pictured: A checkpoint in Coolangatta
What are the border restrictions?
New South Wales: No restrictions
Victoria: Permit required from SA
Queensland: Open to VIC and Greater Sydney from December 1. Twenty Adelaide LGAs banned with review on 30 November
South Australia: Border with VIC closed until December 1
Tasmania: VIC and SA must home quarantine
Western Australia: SA banned, NSW and VIC must home quarantine
ACT: No restrictions
Northern Territory: Greater Melbourne residents must do hotel quarantine at cost of $2,500
Australia: Only people who have been in New Zealand for 14 days can enter without hotel quarantine
'There's no scientific basis for having the border shut and the benchmark they've set is way too high and I hope when they open the border, they'll keep it open,' Ms Berejiklian said on Tuesday morning.
'We are going to get cases. We are going to get community transmission,' she said.
Ms Berejiklian said Premier Palaszczuk gave her the good news on Tuesday morning and described their chat as 'the best phone call I've had in ages.'
New South Wales and the ACT appear to be the only places in Australia following the federal government's suppression strategy - with all other jurisdictions attempting to eliminate coronavirus and keep case numbers at zero.
On Monday Ms Berejiklian slammed Queensland's policy of demanding a new infection in another state be sourced within 48 hours.
'Some state premiers are making up the advice as they go... apart from the Queensland medical officer no one has indicated you must identify the source within 48 hours,' she said.
'I just ask other premiers to exhibit some compassion.
'It's easy to have this back-and-forth but it's really down to people's lives, people's wellbeing and mental health and also their jobs.'
Greater Sydney residents can now travel everywhere in Australia, although they must home quarantine for 14 days on arrival in WA.
Premier Mark McGowan said he had no plans to relax his controlled border policy which forces NSW and Victoria residents to quarantine at an appropriate place for two weeks and take a Covid-19 test on the 11th day.
This is despite NSW recording zero local cases for 17 days in a row and Victoria going 25 days without a case.
The policy only lets people enter without quarantine if they have spent 14 days in a state that has recorded zero community transmission for 28 days.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the news on Tuesday morning, saying: 'We know how tough this has been on families. This is a great day. It's exciting news.'