By Jess Baker
Farmers and residents either side of the NSW-Queensland border say they are facing enormous financial losses and mental distress as a result of current border restrictions.
At the time of going to print, NSW border zone residents could only enter Queensland for a limited range of essential reasons.
The Queensland government strongly advised travellers reconsider their need to cross the border, even if essential.
Granite belt vegetable grower Ray Taylor of Taylor Family Produce said the strict border restrictions would likely cost his business between $1.5 and $1.8 million in turnover.
With properties in Liston NSW, and virtually all Taylor’s staff based in Queensland, Mr Taylor made the difficult decision to abandon planting across the border.
The decision is expected to cost the business $350,000.
“Financially, we’ve put all the inputs in this block over there. We’ve put fumigation, fertiliser … that’s all been wasted now,” Mr Taylor said.
“We can’t use it so it’ll sit there idle. That’s all money we’ve laid out front.”
Mr Taylor said his business had 10 fewer employees than usual as a result of the border closure, and sending the 40 staff it had managed to retain to NSW wasn’t an option.
“We can take staff into NSW – and they’re all Queensland-based staff – but we can’t bring them back into Queensland unless they quarantine for 14 days,” he said.
“And there’s no accommodation out there to put them in because it’s pretty remote there.”
To survive the effects of the border closure, Taylor’s decided to plant less and plant at its Amiens farm in Queensland.
“It’s going to put a gap in our production system for a couple of weeks because we’ve had to move everything around … we had to get new country opened up (and) we weren’t planning on doing (that),” Mr Taylor said.
“We had a program in place where we had all our ground preparation ready, all our fertiliser inputs, everything was ready to go to start transplanting. Now (the border closure has) put us three weeks behind.”
Liston residents, despite being a short 15 minute drive from Stanthorpe, are also currently struggling to cope with Queensland’s strict border restrictions.
One resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said despite growing up in Stanthorpe, owning a business in Severnlea, and having a son who attends school in Stanthorpe, she is unable to enter the community.
“I haven’t tried to go through the border since Wednesday (18 August),” she said.
“They let me through on Wednesday to get groceries and fuel for my generator, and I was told then that after Friday (20 August) I would not be allowed through for any reason whatsoever except for one, and that’s to get the vaccination.”
The resident said she was trapped in a “scary” limbo. She could not work, her son could not attend his school, and she couldn’t collect groceries.
She said Tenterfield, despite being the closest town to her on her side of the border, was too far to travel for essential items as she was not allowed to travel further than five kilometres from her home.
“It’s really contradictory. A few people (from Liston) have been through since Friday and had no problems,” she said.
“Another lady I know who has had both vaccinations, she wasn’t allowed through.
“I think it just depends who you get on the day, but at the moment I don’t want to risk wasting fuel to drive there and then have to drive back. It’s just very scary to be honest.”
Member for Southern Downs James Lister wrote to the Queensland government on Wednesday 18 August, requesting agribusiness workers on the border are allowed to cross the Queensland-NSW border.
“In the absence of vital information necessary for persons and businesses involved in agribusinesses, significant primary production and associated activities have been brought to a standstill, or have suffered major and costly disruption,” Mr Lister wrote.
“Many of the impacted agribusiness operations are subject to critical time constraints due to evolving seasonal conditions, seedling life, workforce employment engagements and strict supply contract obligations.
“Under these circumstances, it is absolutely essential that a full and cogent directive which attends to agribusiness and its workers be approved and published.”
On Monday 23 August, Mr Lister said he still had not received a response, and the rights of essential agribusiness workers were still not clear.
He said that he did not object to the Queensland-NSW border closure, but he and other LNP members who represent border regions had been systematically excluded from discussions about border closure arrangements.
“Attempts by my office, and my own attempts, to get the Premier to include me in discussions about this has fallen on deaf ears … it’s been like this for 18 months.”
Mr Lister said he would be speaking to LNP leader David Crisafulli about renewing his promise to introduce a cross border commissioner.
