Yelarbon border crossing to close temporarily from 6pm today

The Queensland Police Service and Department of Agriculture and Fisheries have advised that the Keetah bridge border crossing at Yelarbon will temporarily close from 6pm this afternoon [28 October 2021].

Goondiwindi Regional Council understands the decision was made primarily due to the limited amount of harvest traffic currently using the crossing. Predicted wet weather is also understood to be a contributing factor.

Mayor of the Goondiwindi Region the Honourable Cr Lawrence Springborg AM said the initial decision to temporarily open the crossing was always contingent upon the need from the local grains harvest.

“The two smaller border checkpoints at Talwood and Yelarbon were opened as a special circumstance as a result of advocacy on behalf of our local farmers facing the current harvest season,” the mayor said. “Based on our discussions with local landholders on the New South Wales side of the border, we know that this will be of great benefit to them for the duration of the grains harvest.

“But it’s a balance, and we knew that the allocation of police resources was contingent on increased harvest traffic, which has actually been very limited so far.”

Council understands that the Talwood-Boomi crossing will remain open to all local traffic with a valid pass to enter Queensland (e.g. X Pass, F Pass, S Pass) from 7 am – 7 pm daily. The checkpoints at Texas and Goondiwindi will remain open 24/7.

The Queensland Grains Harvest Taskforce is expected to meet again in the middle of next week to reassess the requirement for the Yelarbon crossing and provide an anticipated date for it to reopen for the remainder of the harvest period.

The temporary crossings will remain subject to weather conditions and harvest demand – for the latest updates about any closures, visit the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries engagement hub website: https://daf.engagementhub.com.au/grain-harvesters. Click ‘Queensland border crossing locations’ in the ‘Helpful Info’ menu for up-to-date information about the checkpoints.

“The current border restrictions continue to be very challenging for our cross-border community, and especially so during harvest,” Cr Springborg said. “Council is continuing to advocate on behalf of our community on both sides of the border for more permanent solutions to local crossings.

“In particular, we are strongly advocating to the state government for the reinstatement of ‘E-gates’ at the smaller, unmanned crossings in our region, as they’ve been extremely successful for local traffic when previously operational.”