The Federal Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government, NSW Nationals MP Mark Coulton, has added his voice to calls for the Queensland border restrictions to be eased.
Speaking on ABC New England North West this morning, Mr Coulton said tensions in western NSW were rising over the closure which requires people outside the NSW-Queensland border bubble to get exemptions to travel into Queensland.
While exemptions are available for patients to travel to the sunshine state for medical care, Mr Coulton said he had heard of cancer patients looking to travel to Queensland for treatment being turned around at checkpoints.
"The border guard said, 'Why don't you go somewhere in NSW and get this?' That is very unacceptable. You should not have police making judgements of people's health," Mr Coulton said.
"You just can't chop and change when you're dealing with medical people who have got access to your medical records and understand your case history.
"I've been to Palestine and it's easier to get into Palestine than it is to get into Queensland at the moment. It's just an absolute nonsense.
"Western NSW has had only a handful of cases since this started. The idea that there's any threat from someone from Croppa Creek getting their truck serviced at Goondiwindi is a nonsense."
Mr Coulton said he had written to the Queensland Premier and Health Minister about the issue, but so far had not had a response.
The Member for Parkes said he referred the problem to the highest levels of government.
"I've been in contact with the Prime Minister. He completely understands the gravity of the stupidity of the situation and he's written to the Premiers," Mr Coulton said.
"I'm not sure of any response. Hopefully he might be able to thrash it out in national cabinet this week."
Last week, Moree Mayor Katrina Humphries urged residents of her NSW shire to re-think their reliance on services across the border.
"It's getting to the stage where they're starting to cherrypick," she said.
"We'll have the grain because we need that for our feedlots, but you're not going to see your kid? It doesn't work that way."
Cr Humphries said she also heard reports NSW families were told they could not visit their children at boarding schools without quarantining for 14 days first.
"This is cruel, unnecessary and cruel. This is un-Australian," she said.
Queensland recorded no new cases of community transmission overnight, with eight active cases and 1,091 total confirmed cases.
There have been no cases of community transmission in Queensland in 28 days.
Of the seven new cases confirmed in NSW today, six were infected locally and one was a traveller in hotel quarantine.
