‘I don’t care’: Berejiklian defends delayed lockdown amid growing criticism

Gladys Berejiklian’s words have come back to haunt her, but the NSW Premier has hit back at critics insisting she “doesn’t care”.

Gladys Berejiklian insists she does “not regret a single decision” taken during NSW’s latest outbreak, as critics accuse the premier of imposing the broader lockdown too late.

It comes after John Barilaro conceded the state had done well “sometimes by luck and chance” but denied the government had become complacent of the virus, insisting Ms Berejiklian understood the gravity of Covid-19 “more than probably any other person in the country”.

Ms Berejiklian confirmed on Saturday Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains would be plunged into a 14-day lockdown as the state faced a rapidly-spreading Covid-19 outbreak, before the state recorded another 30 cases on Sunday.

Ms Berejiklian has been critical of states imposing lockdowns, on Friday avoiding using the term altogether, but denied the delay was an attempt to preserve her reputation as Australia’s most anti-lockdown leader.

“I do not regret a single decision we have taken because it has been based on health advice. When you are making a major decision to lockdown millions and millions of people, you have to make sure it is based on health advice and not because you want to have zero cases every day,” she told reporters on Sunday.

John Barilaro says Gladys Berejiklian understands the ‘gravity’ of Covid-19. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

“I have never cared about what people think about me, but I care about keeping people safe and not putting burdens on them unless we absolutely have to.”

Just a month ago, Ms Berejiklian insisted NSW would avoid a repeat of its previous lockdown having focused on improving its contact tracing systems.

“We made sure that we had the systems in place to be able to weather whatever came our way, so that we wouldn’t ever go into lockdown again,” she told the Liberal Party’s Federal Council in May.

Ms Berejiklian also reportedly told a party-room meeting on Tuesday she held a Covid-19 press conference to “clear the air” before the state budget.

Her Deputy Premier John Barilaro conceded NSW had “done well, sometimes by luck and chance” but had learned from “every mistake”.

“In hindsight, there are a lot of things we could have done differently; we could have managed Ruby Princess differently, we could have mandated the mask on that limousine driver,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“There’s been no playbook or rulebook over the past eight months on how to manage this global pandemic.”

But he denied Ms Berejiklian had become complacent over the virus, insisting she had always been “steadfast” in making decisions “regardless of politics”.

“We’ve got a Premier that has got the gravity of the pandemic more than probably any other person in the country, and I support her,” he said.

“Today, no one’s talking budget, everyone’s talking about lockdown. So it’s irrelevant.”

Mr Barilaro insisted the NSW government was “proud” of its reputation for keeping businesses open, denying the reversion to lockdown was a “knee jerk reaction”.

“You’re better off going into a sharp, two-week lockdown than having this slow death by a thousand cuts of restriction after restriction,” he said.

“On the data that we’ve seen, we’ve made a decision to do this. I know a lot of industry leaders that we’ve been in touch with would rather a two-week lockdown.”

Mr Barilaro threw his support behind the premier. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Federal Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen said he supported the lockdown, which Sydneysiders accepted was necessary, but said it was only necessary because of Australia’s “pathetic” vaccine rollout.

“I think all premiers deserve our support at the federal level, regardless of what party they’re from, in the tough decisions they’re making,” he told Insiders.

But Former Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson said a two-week lockdown to help businesses was “false economy”, saying the NSW government had been too slow to act.

“Of course we have empathy for the small businesses,” he told the ABC.

“But if you wait, and wait, and wait, and then instead of locking down for three days, you’re locked down for a fortnight with the prospect of even extended lockdowns, I don’t see how that benefits small business.”

Mr Barilaro also flatly rejected suggestions the federal government had placed pressure on NSW to impose the lockdown, saying the state was “careful and calm” as it ramped up its response.

“I can tell you hand on heart there’s been not a single word uttered in relation to the prime minister or the federal government being involved in any of these conversations,” he said.