Isolation camp your gig, Gladys tells PM
Gladys Berejiklian says any purpose-built quarantine centre in NSW should be funded and operated by the federal government.
Gladys Berejiklian says any purpose-built quarantine centre in NSW should be funded and operated by the federal government, as Coalition MPs urge Scott Morrison to consider backing a specialised facility in the nation’s biggest state.
The NSW Premier said hotel quarantine would not be sustainable as Australia opened travel bubbles to more low-risk countries, in a warning shot over the viability of the system past 2021.
“Once international borders are open and international travel resumes, obviously those hotels can’t be used for quarantine,” Ms Berejiklian told 2GB radio on Monday.
“You can’t have a hotel built for tourism forever being a quarantine facility.”
Ms Berejiklian said any purpose-built quarantine facility in the state would need to be built and operated by the federal government as NSW was at “operational capacity” accommodating 5000 residents in hotel quarantine every week.
The Prime Minister said while quarantine might need to evolve when the borders were more open, any major change to hotel quarantine in NSW was “speculative” and the state government had not requested a separate facility.
“If borders were in a position of opening in a year’s time, that is a different situation,” he said. “But if we are in a position to open borders, then the requirement for quarantine will be very, very different to what it is today.
“I think that is a very speculative position at this point in time.”
Mr Morrison hardened his position against using Richmond RAAF Base as a possible quarantine camp on Monday, saying it should be reserved for national security reasons.
Australian Hotels Association chief executive Stephen Ferguson said the hotel quarantine system had been a “lifeline” for the sector. “We have got plenty of empty hotels at the moment,” he said. “Our greater concern at the moment is finding staff. That is our biggest issue.”
Nationals MP David Gillespie, from the regional NSW electorate of Lyne, supported a specialised quarantine centre in his home state as long as it was built on commonwealth land. “The pandemic has got many years to run. It is a sensible idea to have other facilities besides the one in the Northern Territory,” he said.
“Every state should play it’s part.”
NSW senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said the “concept of a quarantine station was not new”.
“The facility at North Head operated as a maritime quarantine station from the 1830s until 1984, when the commonwealth transferred ownership to the NSW government,” she said.
“To meet requirements of returning Australians and overseas visitors, dedicated quarantine stations need to be established near airports. Further, home quarantine needs to be activated, noting it has already been afforded to high-profile identities.”
In Western Australia, the McGowan Labor government is contemplating whether a Howard Springs-style facility could be built on vacant land at Busselton airport, which has a runway that can take long-haul planes.
Busselton mayor Grant Henley said there were concerns in the community about a possible outbreak from such a facility.
The state-owned holiday island of Rottnest could also be used, WA Premier Mark McGowan has said.
Additional reporting: Paige Taylor
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