The Queensland government will keep the NSW border open, saying the Greater Sydney lockdown is containing the city's COVID-19 outbreak.
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Deputy Premier Steven Miles says authorities are closely monitoring the situation, but there's no evidence of virus cases or positive sewage testing results north of Sydney.
He's hopeful the lockdown is containing the virus in Sydney and a hard border won't need to be imposed.
"Pleasingly the ongoing monitoring of sewage indicates that the outbreak there is largely contained to Greater Sydney, meaning that the restrictions in place in Greater Sydney may mean that we don't yet need to put in place greater border restrictions here," he told reporters on Wednesday.
Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have already closed their borders to NSW, but Queensland is only restricting entry for travellers from Greater Sydney.
Mr Miles said while Sydney's lockdown is containing the outbreak for now, lifting restrictions there too early could cause Queensland to impose a hard border with NSW.
"Obviously if NSW opted to lift those lockdown restrictions, well then we would need to reconsider," he said.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate called for any border closure to ensure traffic flows freely between Tweed Heads in NSW and Coolangatta in Queensland.
That would help protect local jobs and allow residents to use airports, hospitals and schools on both sides of the state line, he said.
The mayor also called for a limited JobKeeper-style payment for border residents impacted by any closure.
Meanwhile, Mr Miles joined the debate on the federal government's financial support to businesses hit by Sydney's lockdown, after the Victorian government slammed it as preferential treatment.
The deputy Queensland premier agreed that NSW was being favoured by the federal government.
"It's somewhat understandable but Scott Morrison feels a bit more responsible for the Sydney outbreak given he urged the premier to delay the lockdown there, and I suspect that's one of the reasons that he's chosen to step in there and provide additional compensation," Mr Miles said.
Five new COVID-19 cases were recorded in hotel quarantine in Queensland on Wednesday, but no further cases emerged in the community after two local cases were recorded on Tuesday.
Initially Ms Palaszczuk said the cases were of no concern, but Queensland Health later issued an alert after finding one had been infectious longer than first thought.
New exposure sites have been listed in Noosa, Kenilworth, Eumundi and Sunshine Beach, including a newsagency, cafe, pharmacy, liquor store and a bakery visited at various times between June 28 and July 1.
Anyone who visited the venues at the times listed on the Queensland Health website is advised to get tested immediately and self-quarantine until a negative result is received.
Australian Associated Press
