Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has been left disappointed by the Queensland Premier's response to his letters of concern about the Queensland border closure, but vows to continue to fight for his constituents who have "had their lives turned upside down" as a result of the hard restrictions.
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Mr Marshall had written a number of letters to Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk, detailing the impacts of the hard border closure on residents in northern NSW, and requesting that the designated border bubble be expanded to at least include North Star.
He finally received a response on Wednesday afternoon, however was disappointed that the Premier had palmed the matter off.
"The reply was under the hand of the Premier's principal advisor and it wasn't a so much a reply, as a flick pass, indicating the Premier had referred the matter to her Deputy Premier and Minister for Health 'for consideration', as the responsible Minister," Mr Marshall said.
"To say I'm disappointed with this response is a gross understatement.
"The Queensland Premier was front and centre last week announcing the hasty 'hard border', but is nowhere to be seen now when the tough questions are put about border exemptions, definitions and the ridiculously small and ill-conceived postcode boundary bubble.
"Our residents, especially farmers, contractors and parents of students away at school in Queensland are flummoxed and frustrated by the hard border imposition.
"The hurt inflicted by this border closure is real and completely needless, given the obvious low health risks in our region."
Mr Marshall said while protecting Queensland residents is "obviously paramount" for the Premier, he finds it hard to reconcile how the health risks posed by various activities are determined.
"I mean, every pub and club in metropolitan Brisbane (where there are current active cases) are open, trading and welcoming in patrons, but a country NSW-based agronomist cannot cross the border to perform their critical work on a farm in a place like Inglewood," he said.
Mr Marshall has been inundated with more than 200 letters, emails and phone calls from people and agricultural business owners who have been impacted by the border closure and vows to continue to work with his NSW parliamentary colleagues and local councils to have the border zone boundaries extended from postcodes to local government boundaries.
"This would resolve many of the significant issues and has the support of everyone on the NSW side of the border," he said.
"I'll leave no stone unturned in my efforts on behalf of residents and communities, to see some sensible changes made to the hard border."