As COVID-19 border restrictions tighten fences have been installed on bridges near the NSW-Queensland border to deter illegal crossings.
To highlight the depth of the problem, police released footage of one incident last week.
A woman was fined more than $4000 for attempting to cross the border concealed in the boot of a car that was on the back of a tow truck.
The 49-year-old woman, hiding under blankets and clothing, had been denied entry to Queensland at the same checkpoint in Goondiwindi on two previous occasions.
Australian Defence Force personnel are now on the ground in Goondiwindi. An entire company, of about 100 from Warwick, has been deployed to provide logistical support at local borders.
"At this stage we have two on each shift at the border," Officer in Charge of Goondiwindi Police, Snr Sgt Richard McIntosh explained.
And it is for this reason the senior sergeant explained that a fence was erected on a bridge near the border town last week.
"With the level of restrictions we have now, it obviously changes the course of the operation," Snr Sgt McIntosh said. "It's just to make sure with the current restrictions in place; we've got to make sure there's sufficient measures in.
"We've removed the e-gates; they've gone back to hard closures now," he said." It's not possible to be able to police it adequately with an e-gate on there because of all the different restrictions across all the different workers."
Goondiwindi Regional Mayor, Cr Lawrence Springborg AM, said the Bondi crossing had been identified as a challenge and was now being addressed.
"The reality is, that there are circumstances where you can move into Queensland for designated essential purposes and that's it," Cr Springborg said. "If people are choosing to take back doors to it, then it's against the restrictions, and it can get people into trouble and it puts others at risk," he said.
"None of us are enjoying this; in actual fact, this is terrible for us, but this is about doing our very best to keep ourselves safe."
