While residents of Lismore have been allowed to travel over the Queensland border for a number of weeks now, from November 3, Queensland will open its border to most of the rest of New South Wales.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement today, saying that residents of the 32 Local Government Areas declared hotspots in the Greater Sydney area would still be excluded from entering Queensland – as well as all Victorians.

People who have been in a hotspot in the past 14 days will not be allowed to enter Queensland.

Ms Palaszczuk said the decision — which has been made on the eve of the state election — was based on the advice of the Chief Health Officer, who is concerned about community transmission of the virus.

"It's clearly political" says Page MP Kevin Hogan

Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan responded to the announcement saying the latest expansion of the Queensland Border Bubble is welcome news, but was clearly political.

“Whilst I welcome the inclusion of our entire region, a lot of damage was done for no reason, except as a political stunt by the QLD Labor Government. This is not a coincidence on the day before an election,” Mr Hogan said.

“This harsh border closure has caused real heartache across our community – people have missed funerals, weddings, medical appointments and many other important events.”

“Businesses and our supply chains have also been severely impacted commercially.

“I have criticised this border closure since the beginning, as it was never recommended by the Chief Health Officer.”

LGAs declared hotspots in Greater Sydney are as follows:

BAYSIDE

BLACKTOWN

BURWOOD

CAMDEN

CAMPBELLTOWN

CANADA BAY

CANTERBURY-BANKSTOWN

CUMBERLAND

FAIRFIELD

GEORGES RIVER

HORNSBY

HUNTERS HILL

INNER WEST

KU-RING-GAI

LANE COVE

LIVERPOOL

MOSMAN

NORTH SYDNEY

NORTHERN BEACHES

PARRAMATTA

PENRITH

RANDWICK

RYDE

STRATHFIELD

SUTHERLAND SHIRE

SYDNEY

THE HILLS SHIRE

WAVERLEY

WILLOUGHBY

WOLLONDILLY

WOOLLAHRA

UNINCORPORATED (this is Syd Harbour)