NSW borders: Gladys Berejiklian threatens charges for return travellers

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she is looking to charge overseas travellers for hotel quarantine, saying they’ve had plenty of time to return.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says she will likely start charging return international travellers for hotel quarantine stays - saying Australian residents have had plenty of time to return home.

Speaking to media on Thursday, Ms Berejiklian said her government is “seriously considering” making Aussie’s pay for their 14-day hotel quarantine stay - instead of the cost falling to the taxpayer.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done in that regard but it does take up a lot of resources,” she said, noting that the state of NSW had welcomed 35,000 citizens back to Australia with two-thirds being NSW residents.

Ms Berejiklian, who didn’t specify when the state would begin the charge, said she would welcome the idea of the Federal Government introducing a cap on the number of return travellers entering the state each week, because it would free up resources elsewhere.

At present, NSW residents returning from virus-hit Victoria are not required to spend 14 days in hotel quarantine, but have been told to self-isolate at home for that period.

RELATED: Queensland completely bans Victorians

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced further measures to stop the COVID-19 spread from Victoria. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Adam Yip

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews Press has put a six-week lockdown on metropolitan Melbourne. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Wayne Taylor

Meanwhile, the NSW Premier says the escalating COVID-19 cases in Victoria should play as a “wake-up call” for the rest of the country around how contagious the virus is.

While Ms Berejiklian said the NSW Government will not be making any further changes to the current hard border between NSW and Victoria just yet, communities along the border are being closely monitored.

“I want to stress that what’s occurred in Victoria is a wake-up call for all of us about how contagious the virus is,” she said to media on Thursday.

“It doesn’t take very long for things to escalate quickly … and it doesn’t take very long for that rate of community transmission to increase so all of us have to be on high alert.

“We’re monitoring the situation a number of times a day and because of that high rate of continued testing and the very low rate of community transmission, the NSW

Government is not going to make any changes now, but obviously we’re monitoring.”

Ms Berejiklian said NSW had reported no new cases of community transmission of the virus, but said every resident within her state should be on high alert to avoid any further restrictions returning. The Premier said more than 125,000 exemption permits have been issued since the state announced it was closing its border to Victorians. The number of permits means NSW residents should be vigilant in the state.

“Our state has to be on high alert,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We have to be on high alert in the activities we’re undertaking...Especially in border communities.

“Please do not go outside your border community unless you have to. Similarly, if you’re a resident of New South Wales and you have family or business activity down there, please don’t go down there unless it’s absolutely, absolutely essential.”

Her warning comes just hours after Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Victorians will be banned from entering Queensland entirely when the Sunshine State reopens its borders tomorrow.

While Queensland will allow interstate visitors to return from midday on Friday, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the border would remain closed to Victorians and people travelling from Victoria.

“Given the developing situation in Victoria, Queensland is hardening its border,” she tweeted.

“From noon, July 10, visitors from Victoria will no longer gain access or be able to quarantine in Queensland.

“They will be turned around.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has banned Victorians from entering the state from midday, and will be unable to quarantine in the Sunshine State. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Victorians will now be banned from entering Queensland. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Ms Berejiklian has already urged residents in Albury and other border towns not to travel to other parts of the state, warning that “the probability of contagion in NSW is extremely high” and to remain on “high alert”.

Ms Berejiklian announced at a press conference on Wednesday that her government was considering either establishing a new border north of Albury or making permits more difficult to get. Currently, it is an offence to enter NSW from Victoria without a valid exemption.

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After shutting down the border between both states at 12.01am on Wednesday morning, Ms Berejiklian said the possibility of contagion within her state given what was happening in Victoria was “very high”, sending a warning that her state government would need to be tougher on the border communities in the days and weeks to come.

“Do not travel to other parts of NSW unless you absolutely have to,” she said. “(If) you are an Albury resident, we do not recommend you travelling to other parts of NSW.

“If we feel in the next few days or as early as tomorrow that we need to further protect the community, we will consider what we do north of Albury.

“My strong warning to people in NSW is do not travel to those border communities unless you absolutely have to.”