July

6 July

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announces the border between NSW and Victoria will close after the state recorded 127 more coronavirus cases on Sunday – its record high. Premier Andrews insists the decision was taken jointly after a call between himself, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

13 July

Brisbane Airport’s new $1 billion runway finally opens with a warbird flypast and the departure of a Virgin Australia 737-8FE to Cairns. Chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff says, “This is more than just a formality and a slab of very expensive asphalt. When I look at that 3.3 kilometre stretch of runway, I see hope.” Construction workers quietly finished building the $1 billion runway at the end of April. The project to build it cost more than $1 billion, took eight years of construction and demanded 3.3 million man-hours from 3,700 Australians. It’s hoped it will slowly double the hub’s passenger numbers from 23.4 million to more than 50 million by 2040, increasing daily flights to 110 aircraft movements an hour. At its peak, 650 people were on-site in mid-2019 and 324 subcontractors were hired, with around 90 per cent based in south-east Queensland. In total, the state reclaimed 11 million cubic metres of sand from Moreton Bay as part of the works.

16 July

NSW and South Australia say they will charge Australians returning home from abroad $3,000 to stay in hotel quarantine, while Queensland will ask for $2,800. Premier Gladys Berejiklian says, “NSW is the gateway to Australia, with more than 35,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents returning from overseas processed through our hotel quarantine system since 29 March 2020.

“The NSW taxpayers have footed much of the bill so far, with more than $65 million spent on quarantine accommodation to house international travellers returning to Australia. Australian residents have been given plenty of time to return home – and we feel it is only fair that they cover some of the costs of their hotel accommodation.”

22 July

Qantas finally says goodbye to the very last of its active 747s, as VH-OEJ departs Sydney Airport for Los Angeles, before heading to its final resting place in the Mojave Desert. “The 747 changed world aviation, changed Qantas and changed Australia,” says the airline’s chief executive. “It’s an aircraft with an amazing history, an aircraft that has really made a difference to a lot of people.” QF7474 departed at 3:28pm, with Qantas’ first female captain, Sharelle Quinn, leading the team. “I have flown this aircraft for 36 years and it has been an absolute privilege,” she tells reporters.

After an emotional take-off to the tune of I Still Call Australia Home, the 17-year-old Boeing 747-438 flies over Sydney’s CBD, Harbour and beaches before heading to the HARS Museum, where it dips its wings in a final salute to the first 747-400 housed at the attraction, VH-OJA. Then, unexpectedly, Quinn draws the Qantas Kangaroo in the sky as the aircraft heads off to its final resting place in the Mojave Desert, via a quick freight drop off in Los Angeles. Today, there are thought to be only 30 747 passenger jets left in service globally and 132 in storage.

29 July

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announces she will formally shut her border to Greater Sydney once again. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian quickly hits back and says the decision will hurt Queensland far more than NSW, which is in the “strongest position in the nation”.