Coronavirus: Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s outbreak defiance

Gladys Berejiklian resists new restrictions in NSW as her state counterparts tighten the net ahead of the school holidays.

Instructor Hudson Mills from Noosa Jetski Hire with holiday-maker Charlotte Barry of Newcastle on the Noosa River on Thursday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Gladys Berejiklian has resisted imposing new restrictions in NSW in the face of community infections of Covid-19, telling ­Sydneysiders to wash their hands and use social distancing.

Elsewhere in the country, ­premiers are tightening the net ahead of the school holidays, ­despite the small number of cases in NSW.

This has left Queensland tourism operators bracing for a slew of school holiday cancellations, with health authorities maintaining a lockout of Melburnians and closely monitoring the latest Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney.

Fears the NSW border will close are being played down by senior Queensland government sources, who say there is no mood for further restrictions without a significant spread of cases.

But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the state would introduce a travel declaration pass and told residents to defer non-essential travel to Sydney. All interstate arrivals entering the state from 1am on Saturday will need to complete an online declaration before crossing into the state under a new regime.

Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Dylan Coker

“Queensland enjoys more freedom than most places in the world but the price of this freedom is eternal vigilance,” Ms Palas­zczuk said.

Ms Berejiklian on Thursday stopped short of introducing any new restrictions, instead urging Sydneysiders to avoid large social gatherings after three community Covid-19 infections were reported in Sydney. Another case is under investigation.

“Unless you absolutely have to attend a large gathering, unless you absolutely have to engage in activities of a social nature in the next few days, we ask everybody to refrain from that, to be extra careful, to make sure you hand sanitise and socially distance,” Ms Berejiklian said.

The three Sydney cases include a driver in the quarantine program and his wife. A 70-year old woman who visited an exposure site was also confirmed as a case. NSW police are investigating whether the driver, who was not vaccinated, breached health orders for quarantine workers.

Despite the small number of NSW cases, Victoria has already declared three Sydney local government areas in the city’s east “orange zones”, requiring travellers to take a Covid-19 test and isolate until a negative result.

The border closures and restrictions come in the lead-up to school holidays across the country’s eastern states.

In Noosa, jetski hire operator Geoff Phillips said the industry had become accustomed to the uncertainty of interstate travel from its experience in 2020.

“People from Brisbane can hop in the car on a Friday night and be here in an hour and a half, so we have not been as badly affected as they have been in north Queensland,” he said. “We have actually been doing really well.”

Daniel Gschwind, chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, said his members would be seriously impacted by the border restrictions and uncertainty around travel.

“We are talking about many millions of dollars in benefits that Queensland gets from southern visitors during winter,” he said.

“(Border closures) are not helping our sense of confidence in interstate travel and are ultimately devastating businesses.

“We have to find ways of dealing with the virus in less damaging ways and we will get there by increased vaccination and relying on contact tracing regimes.”

While Victorians living in the state’s regions can enter Queensland, those who have been in Melbourne in the past 14 days remain locked out. Queensland officials confirmed a report in The Australian on Thursday that Melburnians would remain restricted for at least another week.

Beach horse riding company Equathon, at Noosa, stands to lose 15 per cent of its school holiday bookings if borders stay shut to Melbourne.

The restrictions have already caused chaos for Queensland beach communities, where thousands of Victorian tourists usually flock to escape the winter cold.

Some private schools in Victoria end their term on Friday, with the remaining schools going on holidays on June 26.

Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast, would in a normal year become a “second home” for many of Melbourne’s well-heeled in winter.

Clare Stewart, the town’s mayor, said hotel owners were hopeful the borders would open to Melbourne when restrictions are reviewed next week.

“It is regrettable for our tourism operators and our holiday accommodation providers coming into the school holidays,” she said. “We are a tourist town, we thrive on tourists and when borders are open, everyone does well.’’

Rebecca Watson, who runs Equathon, a beach horse riding attraction, said the business would lose 15 per cent of school holiday bookings if Melburnians were not allowed to travel.

“This isn’t the quietest it has been since borders shut but we do have a couple of really big bookings coming up travelling from Melbourne,” Ms Watson said.