Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews made his comments after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet beat Prime Minister Scott Morrison to opening the international border this week when he said Australians overseas would be able to return to NSW from November 1. But Mr Andrews said he would leave it to national cabinet to decide when Victoria‘s international border would reopen. “No disrespect to my colleagues in NSW, I am not here to make announcements about the issuance of visas and passports,” he said. “I don’t control international borders. “I think the federal government have politely pointed that out to the NSW government as well.“But in any event, we think we will have a national cabinet meeting quite soon and have a chat about all of these issues.”The Sunshine State’s acting leader Stephen Miles made similar comments after being pressed on what Queensland’s path forward would be after reaching its 70 or 80 per cent vaccination target.Mr Miles told reporters the government was “still working through those details” and that they remained committed to the national plan, which NSW had “torn up”.“The Prime Minister’s so-called national plan is in tatters now, thanks to his buddy in NSW going off script, going rogue,” Mr Miles said. “The difference is we’re not in lockdown here, whereas in NSW they’ve had the motivation of lifting a lockdown. “There are very few restrictions currently in place in Queensland compared to the southern states.”Mr Andrews indicated Victoria would follow NSW in allowing home quarantine for vaccinated Australians arriving from overseas.He said home quarantine would be less than 14 days but he did not set a date for when international borders would reopen.Mr Andrews also took a swipe at the federal government’s vaccine rollout, which he has said prioritised Sydney and kept Melbourne locked down for longer. NED-4534-NSW-Roadmap-to-freedomHe congratulated Victorians on being only a couple of weeks behind NSW’s reopening plan considering “we know and understand just how much extra vaccine went there”. “It is a credit to every single Victorian, as I said, their conviction, compassion, and an absolute determination to get this done,” he said. “They (NSW) are at 80 per cent, we are about to be a 70 per cent. “We know why they are at 80 per cent. None of us can change that.“Why have we had lockdowns? Because we didn’t have the vaccine. “Why have we had rules and density limits and all manner of quite unimaginable restrictions on people’s lives? Because we didn’t have a vaccine.” Mr Miles said 72.07 per cent of Queenslanders have had their first vaccine dose.“The sooner we can get Queenslanders vaccinated, the sooner we can adjust restriction levels,” Mr Miles said.Mr Miles could not commit to a border reopening date, saying he did not know when the state would hit their vaccination target of 80 per cent first dose. PERROTTET SAYS RETURN TO SCHOOL IS SAFEIn NSW, 301 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded overnight along with 10 deaths.With NSW crossing the finish line for the 80 per cent double vaccination rate, Premier Dominic Perrottet has reassured nervous parents that tomorrow’s return to school will be done safely. “It’s a great day tomorrow. I’ve believe the measures we have in place will ensure we can open up our classrooms safely,” he said.He acknowledge that there will be challenges in the school reopening but the vaccination of teachers and parents will mitigate the risks. “I say to parents please have confidence. It’s a very important day tomorrow. We need our kids to get back to learning as soon as possible.” In response to questions, Mr Perrottet also said his decision to scrap quarantine for returning travellers will help bolster the NSW economy and he had the support of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “I’ve had numerous conversations with the Prime Minister in moving to this point and the federal government has been supportive,” he said. “Two-hundred-and-fifty thousand jobs have been lost. We will continue to do what we can to open up our state safely.”He said he wanted to increase the existing plan for returning international students in time for the new university year. “This gives a lot of international students confidence globally that we have a pathway,” he said. “NSW is open for business.”Mr Perrottet denied his government’s decision to put harsher restrictions on 12 local government areas in Western Sydney contributed to poor mental health impacts in the region. He added that the government’s recent spate of announcements focused on Western Sydney was not an attempt to win over disgruntled voters. “We don’t look at electorates as red or blue. We look at where the need is and that is where the investment will go,” he said. Mr Perrottet said an investigation by integrity agency ICAC into his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian would not be a distraction. “My government is completely focused on the people of our state,” he said.Green light to travel from NZ’s south islandAustralia has reopened green travel from New Zealand’s south island, as health officials work through a deal to allow international tourists, students and business travellers from Singapore into the country. Health Minister Greg Hunt said a plan for quarantine travel with Singapore, including for international residents, was in “rapid development”. “We are in express discussions with Singapore,” he said. “I met with the Singapore (health) minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday and we were discussing precisely this expedited green lane travel proposal for fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore.”Under “phase one” of reopening Australia’s international borders, the federal government will relax the Biosecurity Act to allow citizens, permanent residents and their close family to travel in and out of the country. This will occur in NSW from November 1, with Premier Dominic Perrottet previously announcing there would be no quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers returning to NSW.Mr Hunt said the government was also working with states on “phase two” of reopening international travel, which includes international students and priority workers. “It’s obviously a Commonwealth decision,” he said. “Phase three will be for fully vaccinated international travellers, and that would include tourists.”Australia’s chief health officer Professor Paul Kelly announced the paused green travel lane with New Zealand would be reopened for anyone coming from the south island from midnight Tuesday October 19. New Zealand’s north island is currently battling a Covid-19 outbreak, but the virus has not spread south. “There is very good work being done to stop people from the north island going to the south island so that is not a risk,” he said. Prof Kelly said Australia was also looking at potential quarantine-free travel with other Covid-safe countries in the region, with the Pacific a “particular focus at the moment”.“Many countries in the Pacific have not had any cases or very few cases over the whole pandemic,” he said. “So we’re certainly looking again closely at that.“I think vaccination status will be the key component of making those decisions.”NSW records 301 new Covid cases and 10 deathsAnother 301 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in NSW as the state prepares to relax more restrictions for fully-vaccinated people on Monday.There were also another 10 deaths.The numbers come after NSW reached its critical 80 per cent vaccination target on Saturday, becoming the first state in Australia to achieve the double-dose milestone.This means more freedoms are on the cards from Monday, aside from regional travel which has been pushed back to November 1.Among the eased restrictions include increasing the number of people allowed at indoor and outdoor gatherings, removing density limits at businesses like hair salons and allowing more people to attend weddings and funerals.More details about the cases will be provided in the 11am Covid update.Victoria records 1838 new virus cases, seven deaths Victoria has recorded 1838 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 as the state continues to grapple with its latest Delta outbreak.Seven deaths were also recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm overnight.On Saturday the state inched closer to its 70 per cent vaccination, with health authorities announcing more than 63 per cent of the population aged 16 years and older had been fully vaccinated.On Sunday 38,977 vaccine doses were administered.Some restrictions are expected to be eased once the state reaches the 70 per cent target with an announcement expected later on Sunday.Australia to Singapore flights about to launch Travel from Australia has been essentially banned since March 2020 — but now major airlines have announced they are resuming international flights, ending what has been referred to as the nation’s “hermit” status.National carrier airline Qantas is bringing forward the resumption of international flights, putting on five flights a week from Sydney to London and four from Sydney to Los Angeles.Virgin Australia hailed the “fantastic news for travellers, the aviation industry, and the thousands of businesses and communities in the state who rely on open borders and the economic injection that tourism provides”.Read more about what the airlines have on offer here.NAT – Stay Informed – Social Media
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