COVID quarantine: Dannii double standard shines light on decision makers

Any anger about alleged ‘special treatment’ for Dannii Minogue to enter Queensland should not be directed at the woman herself but at those who let it happen, writes Kylie Lang.

IF I were Dannii Minogue, I wouldn’t want to slum it in a three-star hotel when I could hole up in a private mansion on the sunny Gold Coast.

Who could blame the former soapie star turned occasional singer for wanting a bit of luxury in these tough times?

I mean, why suffer cheap shampoo and scratchy loo paper when you can have the five-star stuff?

If Dannii Minogue has a medical certificate – declaring what is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it’s a fear of bed bugs – then she may well be entitled to quarantine her way.

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Dannii Minogue was given an exemption to avoid hotel quarantine in Queensland.

But it certainly sends a poor message to the average Janes and Joes out there who are paying $2800 for their enforced stay away from the comfort of their own homes.

Take the critically ill man with compromised immunity after cancer treatment who, despite several doctors’ letters, has been forbidden to isolate in his rural property in NSW.

Instead, he’s trapped in the very dingy kind of hotel room Minogue has been able to eschew – because she is a celebrity of sorts.

There has been an outcry since the cancer patient’s story was brought to light, with people calling it out as unfair and arguing exceptions should be made in extreme cases.

Is Dannii Minogue’s extreme? It wouldn’t appear so.

Even if the 48-year-old has a medically valid reason for shunning average accommodation, it still is not a good look, for her or the Queensland Health Department which approved it.

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young denies Dannii Minogue was given special treatment. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

The public has had enough double-standards jammed down its throat – city nightclubs escaping the fines slapped on country pubs for breaching social distancing rules; protesters holding cluster-fests without reprisals; and people being ordered to stay home but not when there are two State Government by-elections and votes are at stake.

I could go on, but the point is, having one rule for one group of people and another for a different group is wrong.

Queensland’s Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has defended the exemption for Dannii Minogue, saying she has granted exemptions to 38 people who had COVID-safe plans, including people who worked in the entertainment industry.

It still doesn’t stack up as reasonable to me.

Any anger about alleged special treatment for Dannii Minogue should not be directed at the woman herself but at those who let it happen.

Originally published as COVID quarantine: Dannii double standard shines light on decision makers