Jam at the border causing problems
A PREGNANT woman was forced to walk across the Queensland border to avoid facing hour-long delays caused by 11th-hour border changes.
The woman was among thousands of travellers stuck in the chaos after a decision to introduce a new border declaration system at noon on Friday, rendering the existing passes invalid.
Those passing through checkpoints are required to sign on through a new online portal.
Peak-hour traffic was at a crawl from Currumbin to the border as motorists were asked to complete the declaration on the spot.
A doctor who works on the border said the sudden changes were “out of control”.
“It is border chaos once more with the sudden revocation of previous passes not still works casually in Broadbeach, was also catching up with some friends and said they were having beers that had been a long time coming. announced,” the doctor said.
“A pregnant woman walked to the surgery rather than try and cross by car. Others have given up trying to cross and turned around and gone home. I hope no one’s health is compromised by the delay.
“We’ve had patients delayed by the fact no one knew they needed a new pass. Traffic is even more gridlocked in Tweed Heads. And are the passes really only good for seven days?
“It’s great for things to be getting back to normal and being able to go to the counter, pay for a drink and get the change,” he said.
“As a local I know how
“There must be a better way.”
Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski urged motorists earlier to “please get across this” as the system came into effect.
“Because this is a new system we expect this to be pretty lumpy and difficult for the first couple of days if not for the first week,” Mr Gollschewski said.
“Bearing in mind we’re (also) transitioning to a new hard it’s been for everyone around here in hospitality and not being in work.
“It’s great to see the industry getting back to how it once was.” system next week when the borders open up to all states.
“We know that this is going to be pretty unpleasant for a bit, we understand that.”
Queensland will open its borders for the first time in more than three months on July 10 to all states except Victoria, which has been hit by a second wave of coronavirus.
Queensland recorded yet another day of zero new infections, with one case remaining on the Gold Coast. Stage 3 restrictions took effect yesterday, giving the green light to struggling businesses to return to “semi normality”.
Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Martin Hall said the easing of restrictions, while sudden, were “overwhelmingly positive”. “The confidence level and excitement level is certainly higher than it has been for a long, long time. The devil is still in the detail to a certain extent regarding the capabilities and capacity of venues,” Mr Hall said.
Since moving to the Gold Coast from Grafton, NSW, 18 months ago, Claire SmidtThompson, 20, has been working at the tavern.
“It’s definitely a relief to have the restrictions lifted and go back to some sort of normality,” she said.
“Everyone is a lot happier being able to drink in a more relaxed environment.”