EASING RESTRICTIONS WIN FOR SPORT FANS

FOOTY fans will get back to the stadiums, more restaurants will open their doors and larger weddings and funerals will go ahead from next month under a sweeping series of new restriction easing.

Even some outdoor festivals will be able to go ahead following some strict rules, while up to 10,000 people will be able to get to some NRL and AFL Games, under a “new stage 3”.

But Suncorp Stadium and the Gabba fall just outside the new rules and could be forced to wait longer.

While recent mass rallies have raised the spectre of new outbreaks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said small numbers of new cases would not stop the reopening of the economy.

The exact date the eased restrictions come in will be up to the Queensland Government, but is notionally set for July 10 under its current road map.

National Cabinet yesterday scrapped the previous 100 person cap for indoor gatherings, which had been the plan for stage 3 of easing restrictions, replacing it with the one person per four square metre rule.

It means weddings, funerals and restaurants, as well as cinemas, churches and RSLs will be able to host more people, depending on venue size.

“The 100-person cap on indoor being removed and being replaced by the four-square-metre rule, that includes funerals. It also includes funerals for outdoor areas as well,” Mr Morrison said.

“This is an issue that has caused great heartache across the community and I think we’ve all shared that.”

But Mr Morrison said there will be no relaxation for nightclubs, which will remain shut down for the foreseeable future. “We’ve seen overseas that has been one of the areas of failure when nightclubs have opened.”

Ticketed outdoor events which hold 40,000 people to be allowed to move to 25 per cent of capacity. Cbus Stadium at Robina will be able to host about 6800 fans.

Mr Morrison said the question of whether larger stadiums could also have 10,000 fans in the stands will be looked at in coming weeks.