Queensland grants exemption for Mark Kilian to visit dying father

A man who has been fighting to leave hotel quarantine in NSW is one step closer to visiting his dying father in Queensland after the Palaszczuk Government granted an exemption.

A man locked in Sydney quarantine is set to be reunited with his dying father on the Gold Coast.

The State Government on Wednesday night issued an exemption to Mark Kilian and his partner Annelie Gericke “subject to NSW finalising the arrangement of safe transfer of the couple to Queensland”.

A Queensland Health spokesman said all quarantine exemption requests were considered on a case-by-case basis in line with national guidelines.

Earlier, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk demanded the New South Wales government write to her granting him an exemption to enter Queensland.

Ms Palaszczuk, who shifted blame between the Commonwealth and NSW, finally provided certainty to the “tragic” situation on Wednesday.

Mark Kilian and his wife Anneli in hotel quarantine in Sydney. Picture:Change.org

“This is the best news my wife and I have had in many, many days and has given my father the will to keep battling on until we see him,” Mark Kilian told The Courier-Mail

“We have a charter plane waiting to take us to the Gold Coast as soon as we get the word. We have moved heaven and earth to get to him and it’s been an uphill battle but hopefully we will be with him at Robina Hospital very soon,” he said.

Mr Kilian is a film composer and his wife a television producer in the US.

“My wife has commented we have not ever experienced this kind of cruelty on make-believe television or films. If a movie was made of our experiences over the last week it would be heartbreaking and not one I’d want to watch,” he said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has slammed Ms Palaszczuk for shifting the goalposts while Mr Kilian’s father edged closer to death from pancreatic cancer.

Despite being reportedly granted exemptions by the Department of Home Affairs and NSW Health, the couple had been denied an exemption by Queensland Health four times.

Mark Kilian’s father Frans is in a Queensland hospital. Picture: Change.org

They are both fully vaccinated and have tested negative for Covid-19 a number of times.

In a scathing letter published online, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed his “disappointment” that the Queensland Government knocked back Mr Kilian.

Ms Palaszczuk demanded NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirm in writing Mr Kilian has an exemption to leave quarantine – which she has repeatedly confirmed since his plight became public.

“If they can provide Dr Young with how they’ll safely be transferred from Sydney to the Gold Coast we of course will do everything we can to facilitate the reunion with his father at the earliest convenience,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“They have to put that forward today.”

Health Minister Greg Hunt, in a strongly worded letter to his Queensland counterpart on Tuesday, said the matter of granting Mr Kilian an exemption “clearly falls” within the responsibility of the state government.

Originally published as Queensland grants exemption for Mark Kilian to visit dying father