Queensland premier demands a cut to hotel quarantine arrival caps

Queensland premier demands a cut to hotel quarantine arrival caps for the whole country as her state becomes the FOURTH to go into lockdown


Annastacia Palaszczuk has demanded a cut to the number of people entering Australia as Queensland becomes the fourth state to enter lockdown.

The premier said hotel quarantine is too risky because staff get infected and spread the virus around the community.

‘We need a massive reduction in overseas arrivals because the overseas arrivals are bringing in these contagious strains,’ she said on Tuesday morning.

A person wears a mask at Southbank in Brisbane as the city faces lockdown

‘We need to get on top of this. We have seen what is happening in Sydney, in WA, in the NT and I am just urging the Prime Minister, reduce the caps. 

‘We are having lock downs in major cities because the overseas arrivals are bringing the virus here. 

‘They are going into hotels and all of our staff are having to deal with it. There are so many staff involved. The risk is real and we need to contain the virus. We need to protect Australia. We need to protect Queensland.’ 

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the Queensland government believes hotel quarantine should be scrapped altogether and only the Howard Springs camp near Darwin should be used to return travellers.

‘The nation only has one dedicated quarantine facility at the moment, that being Howard Springs and it is our view that that should be where international travellers return to until there are additional facilities,’ he said.