BORDER TIME SHOULD ALIGN

DAYLIGHT saving ended in NSW at 2am yesterday, bringing with it – thankfully – an end to an annual angst that plagues the people whose lives straddle the border.

It disrupts families and is a brake on businesses and institutions that have to grapple with two time zones.

Time is a human concept, existing as a convenience to mark events, dates and routines.

The same can be said of the Queensland-NSW border, a mere concept to mark where one state ends and another begins.

It is ludicrous that in a country that embraced Federation on January 1, 1901, the old bureaucratic structures of what were once colonies still exist 117 years later.

The colonies had to stand on their own feet back then and the system worked, but the national, economic, bureaucratic and political landscapes have changed.

This is all the more so in an era of digital disruption that does not recognise geographical borders and old rules.

As an economic zone, there should be no border and yet the Gold Coast and Tweed are still separated and hamstrung by an antiquated system ruled by a dotted line on a map.

Coolangatta and Tweed Heads are just metres apart, but they might as well be on different planets when it comes to daylight saving, water supply and even police pursuits, although senior officers say co-operation between the jurisdictions is reining in crooks who think they can use the border as a shield.

The Tweed council is trying to boost and protect its water supply to head off a crisis as population grows and climate change kicks in.

It is puzzling therefore that the Tweed Mayor has decided to review a decision already made to raise the wall of the Clarrie Hall Dam and, despite the urgency, to insist no other dams be built. Her green leanings should take a back seat.

But life could be easier if the state border was not there. A regional approach to government would allow Tweed and the Gold Coast to work together, delivering economies of scale. Of course, the Gold Coast’s water supply – with the added insurance of the desalination plant at Tugun – is part of the southeast Queensland grid set up to drought-proof the region.

In a reasonable system free of interstate, bureaucratic rivalries, the Tweed would be able to buy into that grid without breaking the bank.

Then there is the difference in how Queensland and NSW approach police pursuits. Young hoons and car thieves know that Queensland police are not allowed to chase when lives might be put at risk, whereas NSW police act swiftly and decisively. Hoons play a Dukes of Hazzard game, bolting for the border.

In a case this past week, juveniles dodged back and forth across the line to try to avoid police on both sides.

But according to Queensland Police, the forces worked closely to catch the teens. Indeed many officers are now authorised to act officially in both states. That is an encouraging development to be applauded.

However, cross-border issues remain a major problem that must be dealt with, otherwise the Gold Coast and Tweed region will continue to be held back.