NT hotspot plan praised by ScoMo as South Australia backflips on borders and QLD bans Victoria

Residents from the diseased state of Victoria will be barred from Queensland and South Australia until further notice but can still come into the NT from July 17 — with strict conditions.

RESIDENTS from the diseased state of Victoria will be barred from Queensland and South Australia until further notice but can still come into the NT from July 17 — with strict conditions.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner has remained firm the NT will open its doors on July 17 to anyone who has not come from or travelled to a declared coronavirus hotspot in the past 28 days.

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The NT’s plan has received a resounding endorsement from Prime Minister Scott Morrison who declared “that’s how it should be done” and called on the other states to follow in Mr Gunner’s leadership.

It comes as South Australia scrapped its plan to open borders on July 20, after Victoria recorded 64 new cases, bringing the total number of new infections since Sunday to 188.

Prime Minister Scott Morison during a visit to Lobs Hole in the Snowy Mountains. He praised NT when asked about borders. Picture Gary Ramage

Queensland will open to everyone else except Victoria from July 10. Tasmania and Western Australia are yet to make a decision.

Under the NT’s rules, anyone who has been in a declared hotspot in the past 28 days must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in the Territory.

SEE THE LIST OF DECLARED HOTSPOTS HERE

This includes people who work or go to school within the hotspot.

If someone needs to travel through a coronavirus hotspot to get to the airport and doesn’t stop along the way, that is fine.

Mr Gunner yesterday reiterated the strict rules around arrivals from hotspots will be in place “indefinitely”, with threats of locking people up if they lie about where they’ve been on official arrival statutory declaration forms.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner is arguably Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s favourite state or territory leader at the moment. Picture: Che Chorley

“If you are in lockdown, we don’t want you here,” he said.

At this stage, all declared hotspots are local government areas in Victoria, though Mr Gunner has said he expected those locations to change and the NT’s rules would accommodate those shifts.

Mr Morrison said the NT’s plan was “absolutely right”.

“There are ways to mitigate the risks that are coming out of Victoria, and, frankly, to resist all of Victoria makes little sense,” he said.

Chamber of Commerce NT chief executive Greg Ireland said business welcomed Mr Gunner “sticking to his guns” on the border opening date and felt it logical to impose control on specific affected areas.