Scott Morrison will be locked out of AFL grand final unless he quarantines

Scott Morrison made a subtle dig at the Queensland Premier over border closures when asked about his ban from the AFL Grand Final.

Scott Morrison has made a subtle dig at the Queensland Premier over her state’s border restrictions when discussing his ban from the AFL Grand Final.

The Prime Minister has conceded he’s “not holding his breath” that he will be allowed across the Queensland border to watch the AFL grand final.

The state’s border bans now mean the Prime Minister will likely be the first PM in decades not to attend the event which would require him to complete 14 days of quarantine at a Brisbane hotel.

Speaking on Nova’s Fitzy and Wippa, Mr Morrison was asked if he would have to quarantine for two weeks at a cost of $2800 if he wanted to go to Queensland.

“Well I’m the same as anyone else, that’s what everyone has to do,” he said.

Wippa responded: “No you’re not, you’re the Prime Minister!”

“Well I don’t think there should be double standards, I mean it’s not like I’m a Hollywood movie star or in the AFL or anything.”

That was in response to Hollywood star Tom Hanks who was granted special quarantine treatment in a Gold Coast resort and AFL officials being able to enter Queensland after quarantining.

During an earlier appearance by the PM on the Today show, host Karl Stefanonvic said it was an extraordinary situation.

“I can’t believe the Prime Minister of this country can’t go to the AFL grand final. It’s a travesty,” he said.

“Well, it’s interesting times, isn’t it. You never know, maybe they will change their mind. Who knows?,” Mr Morrison replied.

“I’m not about to hold my breath Karl, I can assure you of that. I’ll have to focus on the Sharks making this year’s NRL grand final.”

The Prime Minister said today he accepted that it wasn’t a time for “double standards” that would allow MPs to sneak across the border for campaigning.

Today host Karl Stefanovic says the PM being banned from the AFL grand final is a ‘travesty’.

But in a softening of his stance on the state’s popular border bans he also insisted he had never instructed Queensland to open its borders “right now”.

“The same rules should apply to me as anyone else. Those rules should be fair, they should be sensible, and they should be compassionate,” the Prime Minister told the Today show.

“Look, I’ll follow the rules like everyone else, even if those rules from time to time seem a bit hard to work out.

“We have got parliament sitting through most of that time. And the budget. That’s obviously going to be the focus of my attention.”

Sunrise host David Koch also asked the Prime Minister about the border ban.

“Annastacia Palaszczuk is saying you are going to have to quarantine for 14 days if you want to be on the hustings for the state election coming up. Are you prepared to do that?,” he said.

“I don’t think there should be double standards about these things,” he replied.

“I think the same rules should apply. We have got to get this resolved and we have got to get his borders down eventually. Not right now. I understand the concerns that are there.

“I never said they had to bring them down immediately. I have just said we have to have a sensible and fair exemption system and not have double standards and explain that we are doing.

“We have to deal with the virus, not let the virus destroy the way we live.”

The PM is ‘not holding his breath’ to be able to get into Queensland for the AFL grand final.

PM BANNED FROM QLD

Mr Morrison is banned from entering Queensland for the duration of the state election campaign unless he is prepared to pay $2800 to quarantine for 14 days in a government facility.

Nearly seven weeks after he last entered the sunshine state, there is no sign that the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will lift the border bans before the October 31 election.

Queensland’s border ban will effectively stop the Prime Minister, Labor leader Anthony Albanese and any other frontbenchers from entering the state for the duration of the election unless they are prepared to spend a fortnight in quarantine.

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It follows an ugly war of words between the Prime Minister and the Queensland Premier over the plight of hardship cases including a young woman who was unable to attend her father’s funeral.

Last week, the Queensland Premier hit back at the Prime Minister, accusing him of “bullying” her to intervene in the case of a woman who was unable to attend her father’s funeral.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk isn’t moving on border closures.

“I will not be bullied nor will I be intimidated by the Prime Minister of this country who contacted me this morning and who I made [it] very clear to, the fact that it is not my decision,” she said.

“The Prime Minister at the time said to me that he had not gone public, but Mr Speaker, I knew that he would go public.

“To use the tragedy of this personal family is disgusting.”

Both leaders have confirmed they have no plans to travel to Queensland while the tough border restrictions remain in place.

The current border closures, which prohibit anyone from a ‘hotspot’ area including Canberra coming to Queensland without a 14 day quarantine period will be reviewed at the end of every month.

The only alternative is to fly from Canberra to “COVID-free” Adelaide, which reopened the border to the ACT this week and spend a fortnight there, before travelling on to Brisbane.

According to Queensland Health Department guidelines, the border will remain shut to NSW, ACT and Victorian residents unless there are 28 days without community transmission in those jurisdictions.

And while there is provision for MPs’ to enter the state to conduct their work, the requirement they complete a quarantine period is non-negotiable.

“(Elected representatives) can enter Queensland from a declared COVID-19 hotspot, such as the ACT, to return to their electorate or to perform official duties,” a Queensland Health spokesman said. “They must enter via air and will be required to quarantine for 14 days from the date of arrival as per global quarantine requirements.”

Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young has previously defended the decision to declare Canberra a hotspot despite the fact the nation’s capital hasn’t had a case in months.

“Canberra is declared a hotspot because it is in the middle of NSW,” Dr Young said, adding that many people in Canberra have holiday homes on the NSW south coast where there have been cases more recently,’’ she said.

In July, the Prime Minister unveiled a $400 million package to attract international blockbusters to film in Australia on the Gold Coast.

However, the Queensland opposition leader Deb Frecklington did not attend the event as she had a prior engagement.

“I let her know I was coming up here today, and she was pleased with the announcement we were making today for Queensland,” Mr Morrison said.