Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has accused NSW of whingeing as she refused to reveal how much the government paid to secure the hosting rights to State of Origin.
On Monday, Townsville was announced as the new venue for game one of the series after the NRL was forced to move the match from Melbourne due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak.
Townsville was chosen after a bid from the Queensland government and the NRL stated the city "has the lowest risk of a COVID outbreak impacting the game and the least financial fallout of the available venues".
Queensland recorded zero new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday with 13 active cases, while overnight testing numbers were delayed.
The premier says the cost of the event is "commercial in confidence" and NSW's critical response to the venue switch is comical.
"I understand New South Wales are whingeing and you'd expect that from New South Wales," she said on Tuesday.
"They're good at whingeing and that's all I ever hear is whinge, whinge, whinge from New South Wales."
"This is value for money ... and the benefits that it will bring into the local economy is going to be flowing."
Townsville MP Scott Stewart echoed the premier's comments, saying it's a massive boost for the region.
"I dont know how much money was invested, that's not the area that I look after," Mr Stewart said.
"You talk to people in Townsville today or across north Queensland - this is a great investment back into the region because we know we've been doing it tough."
