5 August 2020 / COVID-19

QLD Border Closures

Queensland borders will close to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory from 1am this Saturday, August 8.

All visitors will be denied entry except for rare exemptions and returning Queenslanders will have to pay for 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer has declared all of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory as hotspots.

Only residents of border communities and essential workers, such as truck drivers, will be able to cross the border.

Exemptions – including for compassionate reasons – will be limited.

Passes for border communities will be for those with proof of address and photo ID.

The border closure will be reviewed at the end of the month.

Annastacia Palaszczuk held a press conference this morning regarding the border re-closure:

  • Current situation in NSW, ACT and VIC is of great concern to Queensland
  • Queensland Disaster Management Group met extensively yesterday and today to look at tough border measure
  • CMO Declaring NSW and ACT a hotspot and borders closing to these locations
  • Immediate effect from 1am Saturday
  • Right thing to do – tough for Queenslanders – but your health comes first – we also need to protect families and the economy and avoid what’s happening in Victoria
  • Very important Queenslanders stay in Queensland – now is not the time to travel to NSW or VIC – not risking QLD’s people and economy
  • Victoria not getting better and not waiting for NSW to get worse
  • ACT closed because of examples of people from NSW hotspots traveling via ACT to QLD

Deputy Premier’s comments:

  • 1 new case today in West Moreton (total active cases – 11)
  • Queensland went 63 days without any community transmission
  • Only takes 1 case to see a wide spread outbreak
  • The current cases are putting pressure on our health system
  • 85,000 tests in the last week
  • Cannot afford to risk our progress

Currently no detail on the exact details around border communities – actively monitoring the news / QLD official channels of announcements and will let you all know as soon as we know.

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9 April / Quality Alert
Prohibition on the Use of Engineered Stone

Engineered stone ban effective 1 July 2024

ALL engineered stone, regardless of the silica content percentage, is banned.

Alternative products must be considered and implemented on all projects.

In October last year Hutchies noted that the industry was shifting away from engineered stone due to the risks of respirable crystalline silica, which can cause silicosis and other silica related diseases.

On this basis, Hutchies proactively took a position to ban all engineered stone on our projects, regardless of silica content percentages, from 1 July 2024.

In December last year, we then had confirmation that following an Industrial Relations Ministers meeting, State and Commonwealth Leaders had agreed to ban engineered stone products.

Some at Hutchies have noted that the State and Federal communications concerning the ban have included transition periods as well as exemptions for some engineered stone with low (under 1%) silica content.

For clarity, there has been no change to Hutchies' position following these communications – Hutchies will not be using engineered stone that contains any percentage of silica on our projects from 1 July 2024.

Actions

To mitigate the impact of potential delays and variations, the best approach is to inform clients of the pending ban and to propose and seek approval for an alternative product.

Similarly, ensure all future estimates have the stone specification qualified and priced accordingly.

Refer to Hutchies' Stone Product & Suitability for Use List on the Document Library.

More information

If you need additional support, please contact:

Design — Michael Lawlor / Ogi Latinovic
Work Health & Safety — Jimmy Andersen
Industrial Relations — Ben Young
Other — Russell Fryer

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4 March / Meetings
All Company Update / March 2024

Thanks for participating in Hutchies' All Company Update.

A copy of the presentation slides is available to download below.

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