‘Do it yourself’: Gladys Berejiklian issues stern warning to Scott Morrison over quarantine

Gladys Berejiklian has taken a swipe at the federal government, saying it needs to take responsibility when probed about a key Covid defence.

The NSW Premier has issued a warning to the Prime Minister, declaring if the federal government wants to increase quarantine capacity it’s going to have to “do it themselves”.

“If the feds (federal government) want to increase capacity in NSW they’re going to have to build and operate a facility themselves,” Gladys Berejiklian told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.

The state welcomed home thousands of Australians every week and there were between 5000 and 5500 people in hotel quarantine across NSW at any given time, the Premier explained.

Any more than that “isn’t good”, Ms Berejiklian declared, citing advice from police and health officials.

Ms Berejiklian warned once international borders opened those hotels could no longer be used as quarantine facilities, presenting an enormous challenge for the government.

“In the future you can’t have a hotel built for tourism as a quarantine facility,” she said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has issued a warning to Scott Morrison. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“I said to the feds ‘5000 is all we can do in NSW and we’re doing it’. I don’t know any state that comes close to that and we do it without complaining.

“I am having a bit of a whinge today but rightfully so.”

She said another 10 new quarantine facilities would need to be built to match what NSW was already doing.

Meanwhile, the Morrison government has given the green light to a purpose-built quarantine facility just outside Melbourne.

The state has signed a memorandum of understanding with the commonwealth regarding the quarantine proposal.

The Victorian government had asked for federal support to construct the facility, which was met with a positive response from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday.

A Department of Agriculture bio quarantine complex in Mickleham. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“That facility will both assist with the Victorian government who will run the operations of that facility,” Scott Morrison said on Friday.

“We will develop the facility together with the Victorian government, but the commonwealth government will meet the capital costs of that and the Victorian government will meet the operational costs and run the facility.”

The state’s preferred site was Mickleham in Melbourne’s north, with Avalon, which also has an international airport and is located 15km from Geelong CBD, touted as the alternative.

But it’s believed the federal government prefers the Avalon site about 45km southwest of Melbourne due to its proximity to the airport.

Ms Berejiklian said the federal government needed to consider what open borders meant for the nation’s quarantine facilities, particularly in NSW.

A cleaner wears a face mask while sweeping at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

“We’re not in the business of operating a federally built quarantine facility. If the feds want extra capacity they’ll have to worry about that themselves,” she said.

NSW has not recorded any local cases of Covid-19 for several weeks despite fears a Melbourne family may have spread the disease after testing positive following a holiday to the south coast.

The cases sparked a spate of venue alerts from Jervis Bay to Gundagai.

The Prime Minister was quick to argue that NSW was not asking for another quarantine facility and the government was not planning to establish one despite plans south of the border.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says NSW has had an ‘incredibly high success rate’ in dealing with the outbreak. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mr Morrison said about 3000 Australians were arriving in NSW from abroad every week, and the state had an “incredibly high success rate” in dealing with the outbreak.

“If we’re in a position to open borders then the requirement for quarantine would be very different to what it is today,” he said.

The NSW Premier was then asked to clarify her remarks.

“The point I was making was, we are at our operational capacity. We have no capacity to do more,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“If there was a proposal in the future it wouldn’t come from us because we’re at stretch point now.

“We certainly wouldn't be putting in a request to operate any additional facility because we don’t have the capacity. We’re at capacity now, we’re doing our bit.”