Following on from yesterday’s marvellous news that Queensland will reopen its border to ALL of New South Wales from Tuesday, December 1, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has today confirmed that Victorians will also be allowed to enter and vice versa from the same day – December 1.
After months of separation, Christmas has indeed come early for so many interstate Australians wishing to reunite with separated loved ones or just take a break with confirmation today that Queensland will reopen its border with Victoria from December 1.
Announcing the phenomenal news for both Victorians and Queenslanders in a press conference this morning, Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said:
“Can I congratulate Daniel Andrews, their Chief Health Officer and all of Victorians because this is just such fantastic news,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“So it means on 1 December, Victorians can also come to Queensland and, of course, Queenslanders can go to Victoria as well. So very, very good news.”
Ms Palaszczuk said Victoria had now reached the requirements of 28 days without community transmission as well as achieved high enough testing rates to warrant the reopening.
The news comes just 24 hours after the historic announcement from the state premier that all of NSW will be allowed to enter Queensland from December 1.
“We know how tough this has been on families. This is a great day. It’s exciting news,” said Ms Palaszczuk yesterday.
“It is wonderful to be back in communication with the New South Wales premier, and I am also in contact with the Victorian premier on a regular basis.” She continued.
Following the announcements Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Qantas have added thousands of new seats ready for the surge of Queensland bookings.
READ: Here Comes The Sun: Airlines Add Thousands Of Extra Seats To QLD
“We can’t wait to see a repeat of the heartwarming scenes in Melbourne and Sydney this week with families reuniting after months apart, this time in Queensland.”
Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO
Is this the end of state and territory borders repeatedly closing?
Ms Palaszczuk said there would have to be “a major outbreak” for the borders to close again” from Queensland’s perspective.
While New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said that once borders open, they should remain open indefinitely even if and when outbreaks do occur in the future.
“I don’t want to give the message to the community that the borders will keep opening and shutting at a whim because that doesn’t give anybody any certainty.” She said.
Meanwhile, Adelaide remains a hotspot but the Queensland government say they will review the situation in South Australia at the end of November with the aim of hopefully reopening the border for Christmas.
And as for Western Australia… All is still quiet.
Since all this nonsense began back in March, we’ve been updating our Australian border story on a regular basis, and we’re absolutely thrilled to say that soon it won’t be needed anymore. What a fine moment that will be when we can finally tick WA off too.