From 1 Dec 2020, Queensland opened its borders to travellers from NSW and Victoria. NSW is open to all states and territories, with some restrictions and extra requirements still on SA, NT and WA and so on. Each state has its own requirements, and it can cause uncertainty for business and personal travellers.
Opening the borders, despite some required paperwork in some cases, is great news to businesses and families who have struggled during this time of pandemic and trading closures, aggravated by the closure of the borders of different states & territories. The reopening of at least some of the borders will help boost Australia’s economy, as businesses start to welcome visitors from the other states; especially now that the Christmas holidays are coming up. This will help our economy, as for Qld alone, a leading tourism industry body says that Qld’s economy will receive a post of AUD20m per day. Also because housing values moved to record highs in Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and, Canberra through November 2020.
The Flight Centre branches which were greatly affected by the pandemic, are starting to recover. As the lifting of some border restrictions has been announced, there have been more domestic online bookings made. Holiday enquiries were increased by about 250%. And as more businesses open, more Australians can finally come back to work and slowly recover their losses.
However, this does not mean that there are no longer restrictions, or hardships. It varies how the state governments are dealing with COVID, and it can be confusing for people who travel interstate as to what you’re allowed to do, and what will incur a fine. A more detailed explanation of the restrictions are found here.
The selective picking up of pace in each state’s economy is not going to be a quick fix for Australia, unfortunately. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has just downgraded Victoria’s credit rating from AAA to AA, taking the state’s rating down two notches, with NSW also being downgraded from AAA to AA+. The high levels of debt by state governments post-COVID closures is a worry for the future – not just ours but our children’s, and it’s not just debt that’s been affected. The QR Codes might just be a standard feature of the future, even after a proven vaccine is available. And social distancing issues might also be here to stay for public events.
It’s a rapidly evolving world, I hope that as Australians we’re resilient enough to rise above COVID-19 changes.
