Annastacia Palaszczuk demands NSW ‘get its act together’ over a Queensland border bubble

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Queensland is doing everything it can to resolve its Covid border dispute and demands NSW ‘get its act together’, as police brace for thousands of anti-lockdown protesters to storm state lines.

Hopes of ending weeks of heartache for southern Gold Coast and Tweed region communities were upended on Saturday, with a new war of words over a proposal to move Covid checkpoints south.

Queensland has put forward a very clear option for a border bubble as a means of resolving an issue having a major impact on people’s lives, Ms Palaszczuk says.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk (pictured) has suggested moving Covid checkpoints south of communities living on the NSW border

Pictured: Police arresting a man at the Queensland/NSW border protests on Sunday morning

Pictured: Police arresting a man at the Queensland/NSW border protests on Sunday morning

‘We’ve extended the olive branch and we’ll hand it over to NSW now to see if they’ll come to the party,’ she told reporters on Sunday.

‘We’re trying everything we can from our end.’

That includes dispatching state disaster co-ordinator and deputy police commissioner Steve Gollschewski who will meet with the NSW border commissioner.

Ms Palaszczuk’s plea comes as dozens of officers gathered in Coolangatta on Sunday morning anticipating a repeat of last week’s protest attended by thousands of people. 

Hundreds flooded to either side of the border to protest the closure, which has divided families and even stopped many from getting to work. 

After one man was arrested, furious locals could be heard chanting: ‘Let him go.’ 

‘For your crimes they’re going to have a Nuremberg two in Australia and you’re all going to be held accountable for your crimes,’ one man yelled at cops. 

Protesters yelled 'let him go' after police arrested a man at the border protests on Sunday

Protesters yelled ‘let him go’ after police arrested a man at the border protests on Sunday

People from the border towns gathered in a bid to pressure the NSW and Queensland governments into ending border closures. Pictured: A man with a loudspeaker at the protest

People from the border towns gathered in a bid to pressure the NSW and Queensland governments into ending border closures. Pictured: A man with a loudspeaker at the protest

A plane could also be seen flying over the area with a banner trailing behind that read: ‘End lockdowns – vote liberal democrats.’ 

On Saturday, police reminded protesters that they are not allowed to cross the state line border unless without a current and valid exemption.

Those taking part in demonstration deliberately ignore the directives could face fines up to $4,135 for failing to comply.

Earlier this week Gold Coast police fined a Murwillumbah man following investigations into alleged actions during protest activity in Coolangatta last Sunday.

Police will allege the 52-year-old man was riding a horse when he crossed the border into Queensland without a permit. 

Investigators located the man on August 24 and he was issued with a $4,135 infringement notice. 

Pictured: Police arresting a man at the anti-lockdown protests on Sunday morning

Pictured: Police arresting a man at the anti-lockdown protests on Sunday morning

Pictured: A protest sign on the Queensland/NSW border that reads 'End lockdowns - vote liberal democrats'

Pictured: A protest sign on the Queensland/NSW border that reads ‘End lockdowns – vote liberal democrats’

Queensland in late July reintroduced a hard southern border in response to the spiralling NSW outbreak, progressively tightening exemptions for interstate travel. 

Only a small class of essential workers from NSW can cross the state line, despite the area essentially functioning as one cross-border city.

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said on Saturday NSW had come to the table after earlier declining offers to move checkpoints to temporarily include Tweed Heads within the northern state.

However, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro insisted no agreement had been struck ‘despite noise from the Queensland government’ and that the southern state vehemently opposed moving the border checkpoint.

‘What we want is a genuine border bubble so that workers can get to work and people can access vital health care,’ he told reporters. 

Police allege a 52-year-old man was riding a horse when he crossed the border into Queensland without a permit during last week's protest (pictured)

Police allege a 52-year-old man was riding a horse when he crossed the border into Queensland without a permit during last week’s protest (pictured)

Pictured: People at the Tweed Heads Coolangatta Protest. Around 2,000 people attended the demonstration in a bid to reopen state lines between NSW and Qld

Pictured: People at the Tweed Heads Coolangatta Protest. Around 2,000 people attended the demonstration in a bid to reopen state lines between NSW and Qld 

A border bubble would still require travel permits, while moving the border south would not but would create a challenge for Queensland to police an area outside its own jurisdiction.

There is no neat geographical feature which can be used to support enforcement and compliance operations, NSW authorities say, and the region’s access to health care would be diminished if Tweed Hospital was temporarily absorbed into Queensland.

Ms Palaszczuk says she is ‘very encouraged’ by Queensland’s vaccination rate.

Some 49.4 per cent of adults have had their first dose of the vaccine and 37 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Queensland reported one new virus case on Sunday but the premier said it was linked to the existing Indooroopilly cluster, had involved no community exposure and was of ‘absolutely no concern’. 

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