NRL families to ‘break’ Queensland bubble

Hundreds of NRL officials, players and their families will be ­allowed to move to Queensland while people trying to see dying loved ones are caught up in exemption processes with no appeal.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: Brad Fleet

Hundreds of NRL officials, players and their families will be ­allowed to move to Queensland while people trying to see dying loved ones are caught up in exemption processes with no ­avenue to appeal.

Twelve NRL teams will relocate to southeast Queensland on Wednesday for at least a month as the Covid-19 situation in NSW deteriorates. Nine Sydney clubs as well as Newcastle, Canberra and the Warriors will have exclusive access to three hotels in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.

Players will be allowed to leave their initial 14-day quarantine for training and games. The NRL will pay for immediate family members, including those from NSW hotspots, to join players for coming rounds.

“It is very hard on families with the NRL players,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palas­zczuk said.

“I don’t think all of them will bring their families either, I just think it is very difficult … but if you have a family home set up elsewhere, you are not going to rush and pack and move.”

Travel from Greater Sydney was banned last month for people without an exemption, and Queensland has held off re­instating a hard border with NSW.

Queensland recorded its fourth consecutive day with zero local cases on Monday and mandatory mask wearing, density restrictions, the dance ban and lockdown of hospitals and aged-care homes is due to end at 6am on Friday.

LNP health spokeswoman Ros Bates said there needed to be a better explanation as to why exemptions were granted for sport stars and not for relatives trying to see dying loved ones. “If Queenslanders aren’t understanding the logic behind decisions being made, it is because we are seeing communication and compassion failing in this state,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk last week defended Queensland’s border exemption unit, saying staff were “trying their best” after a series of controversial decisions.

“These are very tragic situations … there‘s hundreds of exemptions that people are applying for, and we’re trying to process them as quickly as possible,“ she said. “They’re trying their best; they’re humans; they’re trying their very best.”

Anthony McCormick, a Cairns man living in Canada, was unable to make it back to Queensland in time to see his mother before she died last week.

He was granted an exemption to leave NSW quarantine but denied entry by Queensland Health because he had not yet returned a negative Covid swab.

“It is supposed to be a compassionate policy. I think these policies are very confusing about what compassion means,” Mr McCormick said.

He said NSW was “amazing” and proactive but “Queensland Health … were silent … I didn‘t receive a single phone call”.

Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall said more safeguards were needed around the extraordinary powers yielded by the state’s chief health officer to force people to isolate and deny entry.

“As the emergency powers keep being extended, it appears that less restrictive measures, or the introduction of more safeguards introduced … aren’t being considered,” he said.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said the NRL travel ­bubble was “absolutely no risk to the Queensland population” if players did not break rules.