Confusion over Gladys Berejiklian’s New Year’s Eve guidance as locals slam it as ‘clear as mud’

Confusion is mounting over Gladys Berejiklian’s New Year’s Eve Covid plan, as local leaders slam the intricate restrictions as ‘clear as mud’.

While most states will be able to enjoy relatively normal celebrations, an ongoing Covid-19 outbreak on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has triggered strict limits surrounding the city’s world-famous fireworks display. 

Access to the Sydney Harbour foreshore for the fireworks will be banned, and the city centre will be off-limits to all but residents and those with existing bookings at restaurtants and pubs.

But Ms Berejiklian sparked confusing by banning gatherings on the foreshore, while still allowing revellers to congregate in some parts of the CBD and North Sydney. 

To add more confusion into the mix of new rules, officials said residents are allowed in small groups to watch the fireworks at local ovals. 

Darcy Byrne, mayor of the Inner West council, said the premier’s directive is ‘clear as mud’.

‘There would normally be 30,000 or 40,000 people who attend vantage points in Balmain and Birchgrove (and) 15,000 to 20,000 would be local residents,’ he told news.com.au. 

Mr Byrne said he and NSW Police have received no instructions from the NSW government. 

‘We made the decision (on December 8) to declare all our harbour foreshore parks closed. But we don’t have the capacity to enforce that, he said.

‘That is the responsibility of NSW Police. 

‘And I can tell you that the local police have been given no additional powers.’ 

He slammed Ms Berejiklian’s comments about gatherings at ovals as an ‘open invite’ to super-spread the virus.

‘My message would be ignore what the government says – stay away from harbourside parks,’ he said. 

Paula Masselos, the mayor of Waverley council, agreed the message sent by the premier has been far from simple.

‘If you want to see the fireworks, stay home and watch them from the television. I’d say leave it at that,’ she said. 

Ms Berejiklian said residents could watch the show from local ovals as long as they socially distance. 

The usual 50-person outdoor limit applies, but NSW Health said ‘people gathering in these areas in large numbers may be moved on by police’.

‘If there’s a local park or a local venue that some people go to look at the fireworks or to have a picnic, that is OK so long as everybody is Covid-safe,’ she said.

‘Sometimes there’s ovals across Sydney which might have access to viewing, that is OK so long as you stick to groups of no more than five or 10 if you’re on the northern beaches, larger ones are allowed in greater Sydney, but please exercise common sense.’    

The New South Wales premier urged revellers to show ‘restraint’ and avoid kissing and hugging people not from their household – or even singing – while ringing in the New Year.  

Residents in the Northern Beaches – the epicentre of the current outbreak – will have to kick off 2021 at home after NSW authorities extended stay-at-home orders. 

NSW recorded just three new Covid cases on Tuesday, but health officials are concerned about the number of mystery cases emerging outside the northern beaches cluster. 

New Year’s Eve celebrations are looking very different in neighbouring states, with unlimited parties allowed in Australian Capital Territory and 50 allowed on a dancefloor in Victoria.

But Melbourne has cancelled its fireworks display centred on the Yarra River between the CBD and Southbank.

Instead the city will host a ‘Street Feasts’ event in which much of the CBD will be turned into a series of outdoor dining zones on Thursday and Friday. 

For Queensland, house parties of up to 50 are allowed and in Western Australia firework displays are going ahead as normal. 

Over in NSW on New Year’s Eve, the northern zone of the Northern Beaches are limited to just five guests including children inside homes. In the southern zone, below the Narrabeen Bridge, the limit is 10 people from the same zone per house. 

As part of the harbour foreshore bans, a previous plan to give prime viewing spots to emergency workers who were involved in fighting the bushfires last summer has been abandoned.

From 5pm on Thursday, only residents with bookings at restaurants or hotels under a permit system will be allowed to enter popular fireworks vantage points in the CBD and lower north shore, including Circular Quay and Milsons Point.  

North Sydney, the Inner West, Hunters Hill and Woollahra councils will also close other vantage points that sit outside of the permit zone – with a heavy police presence on patrol to stop spontaneous gatherings.

The state government is telling people to stay at home and watch the shortened seven-minute show at midnight to usher in 2021 on television.

Ms Berejiklian urged partygoers to be sensible, avoid large gatherings and locking lips with strangers.  

‘When the clock ticks over to midnight from December 31 January 1, I know that’s normally an emotional time where we like to kiss and hug everybody around us. Can I ask for absolute restraint,’ she said.  

‘As difficult as that it is, we ask people to refrain because that could be a super-spreading event … especially in the CBD.

‘Mingling, singing, dancing … these are all highly contagious ways of spreading the virus… we don’t want to create any super-spreading events on New Year’s Eve.’

Restrictions for households in greater Sydney and regional NSW will remain largely unchanged around New Year’s Eve but outdoor gatherings in greater Sydney have been tightened to a maximum of 50 people, down from 100. 

Greater Sydney and the rest of the state can invite 10 guests into their home. 

The changes to congregating outdoors for greater Sydney come after several large Christmas gatherings were reported, including a large North Bondi house party and unauthorised parties at Bronte and Centennial Park.

Thousands of firefighters, nurses and other frontline workers from across the state were due to watch the fireworks around the Harbour Bridge as a reward for their hard work during such a difficult year – but Ms Berejiklian said another time will be found to thank them.

The iconic 12-minute midnight firework display, which is normally attended by a million people and watched around the world as the first major display to welcome the New Year, has been shortened to seven minutes this year.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant urged residents who want to throw a small party at home to consider hosting barbecues outside instead, as Covid-19 is far less likely to spread in outside and well-ventilated areas rather than closed spaces. 

‘If you can have a barbecue or go to a park or you got an area such as a reserve, that is a safer environment than having people congregate,’ she said.

‘If you have the mildest of symptoms, do not attend any of those events whether they’re indoors or outdoors. 

‘The last thing you want to do is be responsible for spreading COVID to your loved ones and the broader community,’ she added.

On Sunday a firefighter was among seven new Covid-19 cases recorded in New South Wales. 

Six of the cases have been linked to the Avalon cluster and five of those cases are already in isolation.

The seventh case was a firefighter, who works at Crows Nest, who visited the Belrose Hotel on December 11.

NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant revealed a worker at the same venue had come forward for a test on December 23, with results showing they were infected two to three weeks ago. 

She explained he had a ‘very short period of fever’ on December 10, and has likely been infected since that time – meaning potential contact with thousands of people.