Weltnachrichten – AU – State Awakens: Borders are reopened as NSW takes more freedom

When her iPhone lit up on her desk on Tuesday morning, Premier Gladys Berejiklian suspected what was coming.

Outside the national cabinet, it was the first time in weeks that the heads of state and government spoke one-on-one after months of tense arguments about how each other was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

NSW Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian and Queensland Prime Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk disagreed over the reopening of the state border.

The call lasted a few minutes. It should be relaxed and comfortable on both sides.

But it was the quality that mattered, not the quantity: The Queensland-NSW-Victoria border would begin on Jan.. Open December. For so many families, Christmas was back for 2020.

« We know how hard this was for families, » Palaszczuk told the media after calling her NSW colleague. « This is a great day. It’s exciting news … Queensland is good to go. « 

Lifeguards and drag queens welcomed flights from Victoria on Monday as the Victorian-NSW border reopened. Photo credit: Steven Siewert

The national wine sales manager had his toughest moment of 2020 in late September when he and his extended NSW family couldn’t travel to Queensland to mourn his aunt’s death.

« Then it really happened, a time when you want to be with your whole family, » he says.

It’s not the only tough limit Coorey faced in 2020. Coorey’s partner Grace remains in London after the pandemic thwarted her plans to move to Sydney in April.

« We’ll hold out until we wait for each other, » says Coorey. « We are only concerned with what lies ahead of us. « 

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister gave the go-ahead for meetings of 50 people at home in the open air. December companies can call their employees back to work all day. Change is taking place slowly but surely.

On an important shift, small restaurants can accommodate one person per two square meters indoors. The same rule is expected to apply to larger venues of up to 500 people this week pending the final results of the Liverpool area wastewater tests which found traces of COVID-19 this week.

NSW Secretary of Service Victor Dominello believes NSW is still in transition as the tide turns.

« Let’s say and hope the vaccine is here by March. The narrative changes again when the vaccine arrives, « he says.

« We just can’t let our guard down – it’s still volatile. We are nearly there. We’re only about three months away from rethinking. « 

Recent successful studies of COVID-19 vaccines have helped government efforts to revive the economy after finding a deficit of $ 16 billion in the latest state budget.

Dominello says the NSW cabinet’s « robust » trust comes from the state’s dual approach to health and the economy, notably through the introduction of QR code check-ins. Now available in 85 percent of the hotels.

Technology has been slow to catch on elsewhere, with WA and South Australia announcing mandatory apps for the first time this week. Queensland and Victoria are not yet widespread either.

Dominello says the technology that is now widely distributed through the Service NSW app was at the center of NSW’s « digital core ». .

« I will fight with all my might to keep the QR codes and the digital grid until the vaccine is in place, » he says.

« I think it’s fair to say that other states are very nervous and nervous about their own backyard. Look at Western Australia … all they’ve done is create a hermit kingdom, ”says Dominello.

« JobKeeper, the economic boat, sails away in March. For those economies and states that only want to build the great wall, I fear that the reckoning will come. « 

One of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic is the hospitality sector, where jobs are still falling by more than 14 percent.

However, figures from Peak Body Restaurants and Catering Australia suggest that some businesses could still break even in 2020 if the restrictions on patronage continue to ease.

Average revenue for NSW restaurants and cafes is down 16 percent year over year in 12 months. However, in the two months of September and October, profits rose by 20 percent.

« All of the pent-up demand and extra cash everyone has when they don’t go out and travel goes into food and drink, » said Wes Lambert, CEO of RCA.

« It’s not crazy that venues could break even if they were brought to their knees in December. Some venues generate 40 percent of their annual sales in December, January and February alone. « 

The priority now is to make sure larger venues can benefit from having one person per square foot as well, he says.

« It’s a really mixed bag in terms of recovery. In the functional and catering area, it’s the worst that has ever existed. We say it’s feast and hunger. « 

Arik Shifroni, owner of the Darlin Group behind the Bondi Pizza brand, manages eight restaurants across Sydney. He is confident about the summer period as international travel restrictions mean more people are staying home and spending money.

« September was a fantastic month . . . October was a little slower because of the Melbourne outbreak, and November is looking very good.  » he says.

But things are not looking so rosy in corporate catering. Companies like Carlo Huber’s European Catering are staring at a future where they can work from home and are demanding that business return to the CBD.

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Gladys Berejiklian, Prime Minister, New South Wales, Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), pork barrel