Coronavirus: Qld Premier under fire over AFL luxury bubble as borders stay shut

Annastacia Palaszczuk is under fire for allowing hundreds of AFL officials to cross the border and live it up in a luxury resort.

Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has spruiked her state’s AFL coup as borders remain shut.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is under fire over her decision to allow hundreds of AFL officials to cross the border, as new footage shows them enduring lockdown poolside at a luxury Gold Coast resort.

Meanwhile, Ms Palaszczuk refuses to relax strict border controls for the rest of the state, putting thousands of jobs and businesses at risk.

About 400 executives and their families, including chief executive Gillon McLachlan, were given border exemptions to enter Queensland to plan for the upcoming AFL grand final which will be played in Brisbane in October.

Aerial footage published by Nine News show officials and their families sunbaking and enjoying the luxury pool, despite Mr McLachlan saying, “We are doing this quarantine the same as everyone else.”

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton accused the Premier of making decisions to get the upper hand ahead of Queensland’s upcoming election.

Peter Dutton said the Premier is only “happy to be out there bouncing the AFL ball,” because of the looming election.

“She wants to be popular, but it’s at the expense of a lot of livelihoods and a lot of businesses in Queensland that at the moment should be doing really well,” he said.

Mr Dutton said there is “no way in the world” the state’s Chief Medical Officer would have said the move was “OK”.

“There shouldn’t be an exemption to the quarantine rules for executives coming in from the AFL. “They should be two weeks isolated like everybody else,” Mr Dutton said.

“If it’s driven by the health advice, fair enough, but that’s not the case at the moment.

“There is no way in the world that the Queensland Chief Health Medical Officer would have suggested that it’s OK for 400 AFL officials to come across the border, not go into proper quarantine, given what’s happening in Victoria.”

Premier Palaszczuk with the AFL premiership trophy at the announcement that Brisbane would host the decider. Picture: Dan Peled

‘Double standards’

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday said Ms Palaszczuk’s decision smacked of double standards over the move after reports of a brain tumour patient had her application for quarantine exemption rejected twice by the government.

“And today (Thursday) we hear of a grandmother of seven who is recovering from brain surgery who asked to be quarantined and recover at home yet is being forced into hotel quarantine while football officials can sit by the pool bar in Queensland,” Mr Frydenberg said.

“It seems to be double standards.”

The state’s Chief Health Officer Jeanette Young said the process did not show a double standard because the event was “important” and the exemptions were “supporting the people who are putting this event on.”

“It needs to be put under a COVID-safe plan, which has happened,” she said.

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan speaks on the Gold Coast on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images

Footage condemned as ‘perverse’

Outrage has followed the release of the video, with Brisbane radio host Scott Emerson calling it “perverse”.

Mr Emerson said there appeared to be “one rule for celebrities, sportsmen and multi-millionaires when it comes to Queensland’s hard border lockdown, and another for battlers and medical emergencies.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her Queensland counterpart discussed the issue of exemption of healthcare workers outside the border zone this week, ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Friday where a common definition of hotspot is set to be the focus.