NT Government bans visitors using Howard Springs to gain entry interstate

The NT government has banned visitors from taking advantage of the Howard Springs quarantine facility to gain entry into other states.

THE Territory government has banned visitors from taking advantage of the Howard Springs quarantine facility to gain entry into other states as capacity is set to hit 3000 by the end of the week.

There are 2000 people quarantining at Howard Springs most days – that includes about 30 to 40 per cent of domestic travellers.

About 800 of them have arrived from domestic Covid-19 hotspots, of which only less than a quarter are residents returning home for genuine reasons.

The homecoming of Australian Olympians is set to add further strain.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner said on Sunday it was no longer tenable to allow all domestic travellers to visit quarantine.

Mr Gunner believed the Howard Springs quarantine facility had become a “victim of its own success” after many other Australians used the facility with no intention of staying in the Territory.

“Our policies have worked too well – in fact, they have worked a bit too well,” he said.

“It is now clear to us that our gold-standard quarantine facility in Howard Springs has become a victim of its own success. It is so good, that everybody wants to use it – even people that don’t need to use it.

“More and more the Howard Springs facility is being used for people from interstate that have no intention of spending any further time in the Territory. They are not spending time in the Territory and they aren’t spending money in the Territory.

“They are using the best quarantine facility in Australia, then they are leaving us.”

People relocating or travelling to the Territory for genuine work purposes or for compassionate reasons are required to get an approved exemption to quarantine, it was announced on Sunday.

But a ban has been applied to non-approved travel arrangements from Covid-19 hotspots, effective from 12.01am on Monday.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner. Picture: Che Chorley

Mr Gunner also no longer plans to tolerate companies and their interstate workers clogging up beds in quarantine facilities amid the change of government policy.

He took direct aim at some West Australians after their state government holds onto the toughest border entry restrictions in Australia.

“They admit to using Howard Springs to immediately transit to another state that won’t let them in like Western Australia,” Mr Gunner said.

“The jig is up.”

Mr Gunner insists it is “very clear to us” that the overwhelming majority are quarantining in the facility to work outside of the Territory.

“Because they can’t go straight to WA, they are spending two weeks in our care, at our cost and then they are going to WA,” he said.

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Companies are taking up more than a dozen beds at a time before workers head to Perth, investigations found.

Penalties up to $5000 will apply to workers continuing to flout quarantine rules.

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan was somewhat bemused when told on Sunday of the angst behind the policy shift from the Territory government.

“I am very disappointed in him,” he said of Mr Gunner’s comments.

But Mr McGowan could not deny the allegations that West Australian businesses were profiting from quarantine after it was revealed that it cost taxpayers more than the $2500 charge to house travellers in Howard Springs or Alice Springs.

“I don’t know the truth of that yet,” he said.

Mr McGowan then complimented the job the Territory government was doing.

“I’ll make the point to the Chief Minister and the people of the Northern Territory – we appreciate the role they’ve played and the job they’ve done,” he said. “They’ve done better than any other state or territory and that deserves to be acknowledged.”

Originally published as NT Government bans visitors using Howard Springs to gain entry interstate