Queensland Police said the online border declaration pass is working poorly for some border area residents trying to enter the state
It comes just hours after Queensland eased border restrictions to allow residents of northern parts of New South Wales to enter the state without being quarantined
Gold Coast Police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler has confirmed that residents of some of the newly added areas in northern NSW are not being recognized by the system
He said the issue was due to information overload in the system and affected up to seven suburbs
« Unfortunately there have been some computer issues in some suburbs, the relevant government department is working on it now, » said Chief Superintendent Wheeler.
« All of the Queensland postcodes for the whole state had to be loaded into the system, so it’s understandable that the system is under a lot of stress, but they’re working on it »
Police say residents of Queensland who intend to travel to the NSW border area and re-enter Queensland, should apply for the updated pass X, also known as the « Border Zone Resident Declaration Pass «
Police say anyone affected can show proof of their address at the border and could apply for a pass in person
« I understand the police fixed this problem and we said there would be delays, » she said
« The police have done a remarkable job and it is disappointing to see the Australian Defense Force withdraw
« But I have no doubts that the police will step in and continue to keep our borders secure for Queensland »
Counselor Ballina Eoin Johnston was booked for surgery at a Gold Coast hospital, but the glitch in the online system told her her address was outside the border area
« I got up early, before 5 in the morning I was on the computer, I followed the procedure, I went through the standard border pass which is open to people in the bubble and I am in the bubble
« I went to the health pass, got right to the point and was told to go back and do the standard pass
« The standard pass didn’t work because the city I live in was not acceptable
« I found out at the border when I did it manually that the very close village of Alstonville where I live called Rous Mill would have been acceptable
Commuters heading to Queensland experienced traffic jams this morning, with residents of the enlarged border bubble lining up to enter the state from 1:00 a.m.
Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said people were lined up on the M1 before 1:00 a.m. when the border bubble officially expanded to include 41 more postcodes
« We saw a lot of congestion this morning, with peak delays of up to 30 minutes »
About 30 people turned around at the border and several hundred vehicles entered Queensland
« We have school holidays on the Queensland side, school holidays on the New South Wales side, a long weekend and we have a larger cohort of people eligible to come to Queensland
Around 152,000 people who live in these areas can now cross the border « freely » for a break
Travelers will still need a pass to enter the Sunshine State and a lot of patience following the withdrawal of Australian Defense Force personnel who had assisted with border controls
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan pleaded for families to remain tolerant and calm as police check each car one by one
« You can have a hundred police at the border and that won’t necessarily speed things up, » he said
« What causes the delays is the volume of traffic passing through and as the border bubble grows there will be more and more people »
He said there were good reasons for people to be patient as « patience keeps COVID from entering Queensland »
Anyone in northern New South Wales who has not been in a COVID-19 hotspot in the past 14 days can enter without entering quarantine
If Byron Bay has been on your vacation wishlist since the pandemic began, you can now head south without any issues
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said it was a good day for local economies on both sides of the border
She hoped that the long delays would soon be « eased » and « we will see more freedom of movement of people »
Queensland Director of Health Jeannette Young said northern New South Wales had been spared an epidemic for many weeks
But authorities are vigilantly monitoring what was flushed down the toilet in an attempt to track down the virus
« We know that one in 10,000 people in the community can be picked up by sewer testing, so it’s very sensitive, » she said
« Tests along the border have found no trace since an outbreak in Byron Bay [over a month ago] so there is no virus in the sewers there
« So there are many reasons why we can now safely open up to northern NSW »
Police Minister Mark Ryan warned there were heavy fines and six months in jail for anyone caught lying about their border statement
« We collect a lot of intelligence from the people arriving to make sure the right cars are coming with the right people, » he said.
« There is also a follow-up activity, so if people think they can lie about a border pass and get away with it, they don’t »
Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said there were also a growing number of people « criticizing » others for doing the wrong thing
Tourism operators are slowly recovering millions of dollars lost during the pandemic thanks to Queensland’s ‘Good to Go’ campaign
Featuring the latest news and research to understand how the world is experiencing an epidemic, here is ABC’s Coronacast podcast
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said opening the border today was an important part of the COVID-19 recovery
« We know that major online retailers and online travel agencies have reported peaks in destination increases from NSW residents, » he said
« Inquiries have doubled or even tripled for some parts of Queensland, which expresses the feeling of consumers that they are truly ready to travel again
He said that with the good job authorities in both states have done in controlling the virus outbreak and the strong measures now in place to track any possible infection, it is time to open the Queensland border. to all of New South Wales « without further delay »
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AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
QLD border card, Queensland border card
World News – UA – Queensland border declaration pass malfunctions causing long delays after state reopens in parts of NSW
