Ahead of what is hoped to be a bumper summer season, camping grounds in the South are preparing for an influx of people – and Covid-19.Glendhu Bay Motor Camp near Wanaka is fully booked for the summer, with a waiting list.Under…
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Australia and South Korea sign $1b defence deal
Australia and South Korea have signed a $1 billion defence agreement today as Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Moon Jae-in held talks in Canberra.
Under the agreement, Korean defence company Hanwha will provide 30 self-propelled howitzer artillery weapons, 15 ammunition supply vehicles and radars.
It will also include a new Centre of Excellence built jointly between the South Korean company and the Federal Government in the Victorian region of Geelong.
READ MORE: Emotional reunions as Queensland border opens
Speaking on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Australia and South Korea, Mr Morrison said the links between the two nations were strong.
"The contract with Hanwha demonstrates the value of industrial collaboration in supporting our countries in addressing mutual security challenges," Mr Morrison said.
"We are partnering with Hanwha to create an Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence in the Geelong region, which will establish a further strategic defence industry hub and future export opportunities for Australian businesses."
Mr Morrison said the deal would create a minimum of 300 jobs.
As part of the deepening ties between Australia and South Korea, both will upgrade their relationship to a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
Mr Moon is making a four-day visit to Australia.
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Leaders pledge on Indo-Pacific security
Mr Morrison and Mr Moon both stressed their nations' ambitions of securing a free and open Indo-Pacific region as Chinese military power expands.
The Australian prime minister stressed a strong security environment was important in confronting economic and trade sanctions by Beijing.
"To ensure peace and stability, yes, you need a strong security environment where the rule of law is upheld and those who seek to live by that rule of law – which we would hope to be everybody – abide by it, and we uphold the institutions importantly that make that possible."
Mr Moon said South Korea and Australia defend the same values, but the relationship with China was also very important.
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"We want a harmonised relationship. And we want to maintain such a relationship, and we will be putting in the efforts to make this happen," Mr Moon said.
Mr Morrison said South Korea has an important role to play in resolving tensions between China and Taiwan.
"It does have its own unique standing within the region and its own relationships with each of the key principles that are engaged in that issue and we both share a very strong partnership and alliance with the United States and that provides an opportunity for dialogue," he said.
"Equally, Korea also has a very strong and open dialogue with China."
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Tears and cheers as first flights from NSW land in Queensland
There were tears and hugs aplenty when the first flight from New South Wales touched down on the Gold Coast this morning, ending a near five-month COVID-19 lockout.
Jetstar flight JQ400 landed shortly after 7am (AEDT), ending 141 days of separation for loved ones as the Queensland border reopened.
One passenger, Greg, praised the Queensland government for re-opening the border earlier as he caught up with his mother for the first time in more than two years.
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He said he was only in Queensland for a couple days, but he planned to make the most of it and see his family.
"We're going to have a Christmas dinner on Tuesday night," mum Leslie told Today.
Couple Tyrone and Emma have been doing a long-distance relationship before meeting on the Gold Coast – Emma's first time in Queensland.
She said she was "super excited" to begin exploring.
And another family has been reunited with their grandmother after nine months apart.
She said she was "so excited" to see her daughter and grandchildren.
"Oh my gosh, my beautiful daughter," the woman said as they hugged.
At Brisbane Airport, Paul was waiting for his wife of 40 years, who he hadn't seen in four months.
"My daughter had a baby in Melbourne and she went down to help, and then it went into long lockdown," he told Today.
It is the longest the couple has been apart during their marriage.
READ MORE: 'Oh my God': Tears as Today reporter reunites with family after a year
Jetstar pilot Guy Proctor said it was great to have flights coming back to Queensland.
"I think we're going to increase by almost three or four times this week the amount of flights into the Gold Coast, which is a really popular place for all our passengers, obviously," he told Today.
"We had a lot of people, pilots and ground crews, stood down over the last few years. It's good to have everybody back at this stage. We have a lot of new staff starting as well."
A second flight from Brisbane has also landed this morning, with passengers disembarking at Brisbane Airport.
READ MORE: Queensland's border opening just hours away: What you need to know
Tens of thousands are also expected to enter Queensland via road today, with police warning that people need to make sure they have met the necessary conditions.
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said 23,500 applications for people entering the state from COVID-19 hotspots had been processed so far.
"Pleasingly this morning we have not had long delays," she said.
However, she said a number of entrants to the state had not been prepared with their pass when trying to cross the border by road.
"Make sure you've got the right pass."
People coming in still need to be fully vaccinated and to have returned a negative PCR COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to entry.
Police Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman also said people needed to make sure they had filled out the correct pass.
"It is important because we've had a number of drivers try to come across with what's called a general pass, a G Pass, and the particular pass required is a general a general vaccine pass, which is a GV Pass," he told Today.
"If people coming into Queensland don't have the correct pass, they get turned around."
Speaking to 9News this morning, NSW residents and returning Queenslanders shared what it meant to them for the borders to at last re-open.
"The first week was the hardest, I think, then after that you got used to being a nomad," one man said.
Queensland residents have been stuck in NSW, unable to return home, with many forced to camp or sleep in their cars for months.
"It's been terrible what we've had to go through. So, yeah, it's good to be back," one said.
https://twitter.com/miaglover_9/status/1470091867005984768
Nine reporter Davina Smith was among the first cohort to make for the border, getting up at 1am to lodge a border pass application.
"We sort of got towards the border, about two kilometres short of the border, just before 4am. That's when we hit traffic. It it was bumper to bumper," she said.
"About 500 metres shy of the checkpoint, that's where they merged you into one-lane. That's what's slowing down the process."
Smith said her relatives in Queensland had yet to meet her six-month-old new child, while her five-year-old was "bursting" to see their grandparents.
https://twitter.com/miaglover_9/status/1470103235830554627
"Right now, I could burst into tears, I'm just so relieved," she said.
"But we are here, we are moving, and we will be with family in about an hour's time which will be a better wake up call."
Flights are also set to land in Brisbane from Sydney and Melbourne this morning, with rising excitement at the airport.
Steve Kemp, who had been months to get into Queensland to see his family, hoped to be one of the first back in.
"I've missed out on my daughter's wedding, seven of my grandkids birthdays, Father's Day," he said.
Neville Hanson has not been allowed to go home to Queensland despite being critically ill.
Barbara Hanson blamed Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for the harsh rules that locked people out.
"I'd like to put Annastacia in a caravan, and park her out here and say right you can't get back to your home now," she said, calling the experience "traumatic and soul destroying".
To get into Queensland from a hotspot such as NSW or Victoria, you need proof of vaccination, a negative test within 72 hours and an entry pass, which is available online.
There were fears the system would crash amid the rush.
READ MORE: Queensland holds firm on 14-day quarantine for international arrivals
"Tonight's gonna be pandemonium. We're really hoping the system isn't going to crash," said Frank Such, who was trying to travel.
However, so far, the site appears to be keeping up under the pressure.
Queensland police would prefer passes on the dashboard but for people keen to cross in the early hours that might prove impossible.
They have said showing it on a phone will be enough.
Not long after the border opened, they tweeted a message for motorists to have their passes ready to prevent to officers, to prevent further delays.
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