Scott Morrison praises NSW for shouldering burden of travellers

Scott Morrison has praised NSW for ‘carrying the lion’s share’ of returning Australians in hotel quarantine.

Scott Morrison in Canberra on Monday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has praised NSW for “carrying the lion’s share” of returning Australians in hotel quarantine and flagged a willingness to try to streamline state ­approaches to coronavirus outbreaks in the new year.

As Sydney’s northern beaches cluster grew to more than 80 cases on Monday, the Prime Minister said there was reason to hope NSW would return to normal as soon as possible because there had been good co-operation from the public and the hotspot area was a somewhat isolated peninsula.

After Mr Morrison’s office revealed NSW had taken in 51 per cent of returned travellers in hotel quarantine, the Prime Minister said he would like to see Victoria, with a capacity of 1000 travellers per week, increase its numbers when it is safe to do so.

“NSW has been carrying the lion’s share of the burden of getting Australians home. Three thousand (people) even now, every week, despite the challenges they’re facing,” he said. “Great to see in Queensland they have gone up to about 1300 per week and in WA it is just over 1000. That’s great but NSW continues to carry the heaviest burden on quarantining international arrivals.

“That means they have more aircrew and more pilots and they had more challenges in managing that than any other state or territory in the commonwealth.”

The Berejiklian government announced last week international aircrew would have to quarantine in just two designated hotels near the airport, instead of the 25 hotels used previously, and would be monitored by police and health authorities.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared on Monday her state was “doing our bit in terms of bringing home your travellers” after being criticised by other premiers for imposing restrictions they said were too relaxed.

“Forty-five per cent of people who come through are from other states and when I get helpful advice from other premiers my response is please consider the heavy load NSW has been lifting to bring back Aussies and we ask every other state to do their bit proportionately as well,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Noting that the northern beaches cluster in Sydney fell under the commonwealth’s hotspot definition of three consecutive days of more than 30 locally acquired cases, Mr Morrison conceded that the states would continue responding to outbreaks individually but he was keen to see a more national and co-ordinated approach in the new year.