Health Minister Yvette D’ath made the announcement this afternoon following briefing from Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young. Dr Young said South Australia had not seen any cases in the past week. She said the large amount of testing South Australia was doing and their rapid response to the outbreak were key factors in her decision to reopen the border.Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk flagged the announcement earlier today. Ms Palaszczuk, at a press conference at Parliament on Monday, also announced Queensland would resume high-level talks about the state’s 2032 Olympics bid. The Premier was joined by Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates to restart the talks after COVID-19 swept across the world. “It is time, for everyone, to reaffirm their commitment to these games,” Mr Coates said.

Ms Palaszczuk also revealed she would attempt to spend “five minutes” with Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Friday’s National Cabinet meeting to seek his support and financial input for the bid. Stirling Hinchliffe, as Minister for Sport, will also assist Ms Palaszczuk with the bid.It comes as Queensland records three new cases of COVID-19 overnight – all acquired overseas and in hotel quarantine.The new cases take Queensland’s total active cases to 16.Mr Coates says there has not been an official expression of interest from China to host a 2032 games, following a report in the China Daily last month that the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing were teaming up for a joint bid.“We haven’t seen an official expression of interest but we respect all of the competitors,” Mr Coates said today.Meanwhile Mr Coates said the delayed Tokyo games will go ahead in July after being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The AOC boss was accompanied by IOC president Thomas Bach to Tokyo three weeks ago to meet the new prime minister, who advised the postponed games were going ahead next year.Mr Bach said Queensland’s bid was “very, very strong”.“Most importantly is the support of the three levels of government, good community support and the fact that the timing for us, this is an opportunity to come out of COVID and create jobs and to create growth,” he said. Ms Palaszczuk said she would now send a letter to Mr Bach asking him for an update about the progress of the Tokyo games.Mr Coates will address Queensland Cabinet in early February.



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