PRESSURE ON POLICE DUE TO CHECKS

RIGHT now it must feel like groundhog dog for the Gold Coast’s thin – and stretched even thinner than normal – blue line. As of Monday, 1am, police will remain at the Qld-NSW border conducting motorist checks to ensure incoming visitors are double vaccinated and have had a negative Covid test within 72 hours. The double check requirement along with the anticipated influx of returning Queenslanders and Gold Coasters plus visitors crying out for some time in Australia’s best location is tipped to lead to three-hour delays at the entry gate.

More concerning for police, who no longer have support of the armed forces for this Covid border work, is they remain on duty at state quarantine hotels. They also face being called out to bars, cafes and restaurants to deal with the inevitable tension as operators try to handle unvaccinated regulars and patrons standing their ground from December 17 when you must be double jabbed to enter.

It has happened in other states and is delusional thinking to assume it won’t happen here. And thus a senior police source is reported today: “It could take up to three hours to get across the border. It’s unworkable. Where will these staff be coming from?

“They are supervising hotel quarantine. There is increased servicing for holidays, and your DV cases. “There’s only so much we can do.” 15 months ago then Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler acknowledged police were stretched by border and hotel duty – but it was all in an effort to not “end up like Victoria”. With 80 per cent double jabbed, and only the vaccinated allowed entry, a balance must be struck. It does not appear to be.