Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has refused to say whether she would reopen borders to NSW if she is successful at tomorrow's state election.
When asked on Today this morning whether she would lift the state's hard border closure this weekend, she said, "What I will do is I'll get a full briefing from the Chief Health Officer."
"I can't speak with the authority that the Chief Health Officer has given me yet, because I haven't had that briefing," Ms Frecklington said.
"What I will say is this - the borders should not be closed for minute longer than they need to be."
Her comments come just hours before Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is expected to announce whether she will lift the border closure following mounting pressure to ease the harsh restrictions.
"I've noticed that the premier has pulled out of all her morning appearances, she pulled out of coming on your show. I dare say that's because she doesn't want the questions around what she's going to do today," Ms Frecklington said.
"I think for the premier it will be a political decision. This is a premier who has played political games with the borders and with COVID for this whole election."
The state's hardline border stance has been an issue of contention for months, with business and tourism operators begging the premier to allow people from NSW in particular as the summer peak season approaches.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Ms Palaszczuk to reopen to all of NSW when she makes her statement.
He told Ben Fordham on 2GB this morning he wanted the Queensland Premier to "make decisions on the basis of health advice and be transparent about it".
Mr Morrison said the reopening of the border was crucial for jobs and economic recovery.
"We can't stay stuck in neutral," he said.
But Ms Palaszczuk has stood firm, repeatedly saying she will not bow to public pressure and instead listen to the advice from the state's chief health officer.
Today's announcement could go either of three ways: a full reopening of Queensland's borders with NSW, an expansion of the existing border bubble to allow additional postcodes from NSW in, or a continuation of the closure.
Ms Palaszczuk has previously said she plans to reopen the state to NSW on Sunday November 1, provided there were no mystery cases, but has not yet confirmed the move.
In NSW yesterday, four new cases of locally transmitted coronavirus were detected with a new alert issued for a south-west Sydney gym last night.
Queensland yesterday recorded no new cases of COVID-19, but the day before two were confirmed in hotel quarantine.
Huge queues as Queensland opens state borders
Tomorrow the premier will go head to head with LNP candidate Deb Frecklington in the battle for the state leadership, with the border policy and the economy dominating the campaign.
