Border opening will boost business confidence; let’s hope the budget delivers more!

Businesses are breathing a sigh of relief with today’s announcement that Queensland’s border is likely to open to all states, excluding South Australia.

With many businesses still largely impacted by the ongoing border restrictions preventing visitors into Queensland, the opening of our border will provide some confidence leading into the Christmas period, explained CCIQ’s general manager of advocacy and policy, Amanda Rohan.

“Throughout this pandemic, CCIQ has consistently called for transparency and for the business community to be engaged and informed so they can plan their operations ahead of time and today’s announcement will allow that to happen,” said Ms Rohan.

Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick says he hopes the state's borders will stay open to help drive the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, but the tourism mecca does not expect any help from international tourists for a while yet. As he prepares to deliver his first full budget on Tuesday, Mr Dick said he was comfortable with the state's ballooning debt, which is expected to reach about $120 billion.

Mr Dick said on Sunday the budget and the Palaszczuk government's policies had already been endorsed by voters after Labor won a third term in office. The budget is expected to show grim debt and deficits out to 2023-24, with the jobless rate expected to top 8.5 per cent this financial year. The new debt figures will include $4 billion in extra borrowings the Palaszczuk government used to pay for its election commitments.

Apart from the budget, Queensland on Tuesday will open its borders to 5 million Sydney residents and 6.9 million Victorians – ending almost nine months of being cut off from the state's biggest tourism markets.