...Dom putting on his Trump hat defying the national plan, who does he think he is?
...As I had said, the freedom lovers would love him, yes and get more COVID.
Border farce
So much for the national plan
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Prime Minister Scott Morrison (images via
ABC News)
The nation was today thrown into a state of confusion, after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet unilaterally announced an end to quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers entering his state from November 1, with no cap on international arrivals, citizens or otherwise. The announcement was met with joy by those separated from loved ones overseas, and despair from those separated from loved ones interstate, amid concerns it would push back the reopening of some state borders. Victoria has since announced an October 19 reopening to NSW residents, but Health Minister Martin Foley had clearly only just learnt of NSW’s decision. (“We are not aware of the full details of a media release hot off the printer from the NSW government,” Foley
told reporters, as he was peppered with questions.) Most of all, however, the news was met with bewilderment, as people tried to wrap their heads around
what it meant, not to mention whether the NSW premier could even
do what he was announcing. It is undoubtedly a power play by Perrottet, and his first big move as premier against the federal government. Perrottet
didn’t speak to the prime minister (or the other premiers, clearly) ahead of the announcement, despite immigration being a Commonwealth responsibility. Scott Morrison was reportedly left
blindsided. The decision to include tourists, and to abandon even
home quarantine, came as a shock to the federal government, which wants to ensure Australians overseas can come home before tourism reopens. It didn’t take long, however, for the PM to reassert his authority, calling his own press conference to announce that, no, the border would
not be reopening to tourists from November 1. “The premier understands this is a decision for the Commonwealth, not the states,” Morrison said. He kept the
“f*wit” to himself this time.
In his afternoon press conference, the prime minister claimed that he was “pleased” with the decision to end quarantine and the removal of arrival caps for returning Australians (“a welcome step forward”
, insisting that it was something he and the premier had been discussing. But Morrison quickly put a stop to Perrottet’s idea that tourism would be reopening too (something Morrison
definitely wants to be the one to announce). The caps will only be lifted for returning Australians, residents and their families, the PM said, before adding his own piece of good news: the definition of immediate family would be expanded to include parents, something many people have long been lobbying for. “The Commonwealth government has made no decision to allow other visa holders, student visa holders, international visitors travelling under GTA and other arrangements, visiting visa arrangements, to come to Australia,” Morrison added. His comments are a
direct repudiation of his NSW Liberal counterparts, who this morning clearly and boldly invited people from other countries to visit or work in Australia. Awkwardly, international publications from the
BBC to CNN had already reported the news of Australia’s triumphant reopening, as announced by the NSW premier. Those should make for some interesting corrections.
Morrison clearly understands the terrible optics of opening the border to citizens and noncitizens at the same time, potentially making it harder to secure a flight for Australians who have for so long been locked out of the country due to his ineptitude on vaccines and quarantine. But thanks to Perrottet, he’s been forced to walk back an invitation to the world – and had his authority questioned at the same time. While he was quick to remind Perrottet to stay in his lane, in what some have seen as a “
slap down”, there was notably no allegation that his NSW counterpart was “deviating from the national plan”, as he so often accuses Labor premiers of doing, despite NSW’s attempt to leap straight from the plan’s
Phase A to
Phase D. National cabinet’s so-called national plan is now all but dead. Perrottet has made clear that he intends to push ahead with the far more aggressive reopening strategy that everyone expected of him, and it seems he will do so with Morrison’s backing – so long as the premier doesn’t try to exceed his authority.
On top of having his authority challenged, Morrison has today lost his edge on another front. As many were quick to note, the NSW announcement has robbed Morrison of his main excuse not to attend the Glasgow climate talks in November, given the prime minister is no longer required to quarantine upon his return. In his afternoon press conference, the PM finally confirmed his attendance. Though one cannot discount the sway the nation’s
truehead of state may have had on that decision.
