QUEENSLAND IS OUT OF COMMISSION
Despite decades of state border disruptions, impracticalities and absurdities, what have we actually done about it? Perhaps it’s time to follow the Blues’ rules and employ a cross-border commissioner.
THIS is borderline crazy.
Ever since the dawn of time, or at least the dawn of daylight savings time, the imaginary line splitting the Gold and Tweed Coasts has been the source of endless headaches … and now, the source of deep heartache.
Despite decades of state border disruptions, impracticalities and absurdities, what have we actually done about it?
While I could write a laundry list of all the ways that NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has let down both her state and ours, I will give the Blues credit for the one thing we lack: a cross-border commissioner.
Yet a Queensland counterpart to this position is something that former Currumbin LNP MP Jann Stuckey called for way back in 2017, when Covid was a nightmare yet to be imagined.
Now in 2021, any argument that Queensland does not require such a position has been proved false due to the absolute failure of our two state political leaders to come to any sort of agreement on how to solve border issues in both the long and short term.
The imaginary line that runs between Coolangatta and Tweed Heads has become the plaything of the premiers, with each engaging in a tug of war for political pointscoring.
Neither side wants to be seen as giving an inch, whether it’s moving border checkpoints or extending the definition of an essential worker, but it’s our people and our families who are paying the price from the states’ stubborn standpoints. They are caught in the middle and being crushed to death by the Great Wall of Coolangatta.
Which is why we need a mediator. Such as a crossborder commissioner.
While this role should be a government appointment, it should be neither a political position nor party-aligned.
Indeed, the purpose of the cross-border commissioner, as per the nsw.gov.au website, is to: “advocate for cross-border communities, advise the NSW Government and champion better cross-border outcomes for people, businesses, and government agencies”.
It’s a big job, which is why those of us who have been following the border debacle now know the NSW Cross Border Commissioner by name – James Mctavish.
Poor old Mr Mctavish has been doing his damnedest to find the best outcomes for the Tweed and Gold Coast regions, but it’s like he’s playing tennis by himself. Without someone on the other side, it’s pointless.
The truth is that if we had two cross-border commissioners they would find strength in numbers, along with the ability to apply pressure to their own state’s politicians.
Right now, any recommendation that Mr Mctavish makes has to be on his shoulders alone, and that’s a heavy burden. As any child knows, life is so much easier when you have a sibling to blame.
The absence of a Queensland cross-border commissioner is somewhat indicative of the absence of care when it comes to our border communities. It’s a bad situation which has only become worse.
In fact, just two years ago, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian failed to renew the Statement of Principles and Priorities for Cross-border Collaboration 2016-19.
The agreement was established in 2011 by former premiers Anna Bligh and Barry O’farrell to resolve cross-border issues including regional economic development and delivery of services for people on either side of the border.
According to the premiers.qld.gov.au website: “The Statement takes into consideration the unique working and living arrangements of people living close to the border and continues a long history of cross-border collaboration between New South Wales and Queensland.”
The website goes on to explain that while the agreement has expired, “the Queensland Government is currently working with the New South Wales Government to renew the Statement of Principles and Priorities for Cross-border Collaboration.”
However, that sentence is closely followed by a footnote stating that the web page was last updated and reviewed on June 22, 2020.
Given the current state(s) of affairs, that’s a little bit pathetic.
RIP cross-border collaboration: 2011-2019.
Surely now is the time to resurrect not just this agreement but to birth a whole new forum for collaboration in the shape of Queensland’s own cross-border commissioner.
It’s nothing less than what we deserve.
The absence of a Queensland cross-border commissioner is somewhat indicative of the absence of care when it comes to our border communities