As I type these words, we await news this morning from the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on when the Queensland borders will reopen.
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A couple of weeks ago, the Premier hinted they would be reopened at Stage 3 around July 10 but since then Victoria has been infected with wave 2 of the virus prompting calls from the AMA among others for the Premier to delay the reopening.
It won't sit well with those who want the borders open as quickly as possible to stimulate the economy.
Some like David Crisafulli, the shadow minister for tourism, who used a visit to Mount Isa last week to make the case for reopening.
"I make the point we started this campaign about flattening the curve which was all about having ill people lining up for hospital beds that weren't ready, that's well and truly been avoided, and I don't think that every time we have a couple of incidents we have to go back into the bedroom and put the doona over our heads," Mr Crisafulli told the North West Star.
"We've got to strike the balance between economic, health and mental wellbeing and at the moment unless the borders are open there are swathes of business that won't get back on their feet."
It's a strong argument and many businesses are certainly suffering as a result, but as I said in this space last week we need to be cautious not to throw away our gains.
The Premier believes the extended closure of Queensland's borders has actually helped the state's economy reopen faster.
She said the state's strict health response which has seen community transmission of the coronavirus brought under control in Queensland has allowed the government to relax restrictions and re-stimulate the economy faster.
"It means we can open up our restaurants, our cafes, faster," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"We can get life back to the 'new normal', but we can't do that if we have community transmission."
And she seems to have the support of Queenslanders if comments on our Facebook page are anything to go by.
"Stay strong it's exploding in Victoria and we don't need that here", "Another month at least would be good" and "Stand tough and keep the borders closed" are typical of current sentiment across the state, sentiment that gets stronger the further from Mr Crisafulli's own Gold Coast constituency you go.
The North West Star agrees. Open to NT and SA if we must. But until Victoria comes under control, Queensland needs to keep the southern border shut.
Derek Barry
Editor, North West Star