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[title]Last month, former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian outlined a three-phase ‘roadmap to freedom’ that, while cautious, would unlock much of the state for fully vaccinated people after almost 14 weeks under lockdown. The plans, created in collaboration with NSW chief medical officer Dr Kerry Chant, were couched in a way that celebrated the promised return to some semblance of normality while still reinforcing the need for vigilance, with the seemingly unstoppable threat of Delta still looming large even after 70 per cent of adults in the state had been double jabbed.
But then along came NSW’s new premier, Dominic Perrottet, and suddenly, the plan became a little harder to understand. At a bombshell press conference – the rookie premier’s first Covid briefing of his tenure – many of the carefully calibrated rules were significantly softened, and other stipulations anecdotally changed yet absent from the official guidelines. As the state prepares to reopen from October 11, there are four big questions that as yet, remain unanswered.
Did Kerry Chant approve the new plans?
The state’s chief health officer was conspicuously absent from Perrottet’s first press briefing, in which he rolled back several of the capacity limits that had been announced less than two weeks prior. Her absence did not go unnoticed by the journalists present, who quizzed Perrortet on whether Chant had endorsed the sweeping amendments to the roadmap. Perrottet insisted that the doctor who has overseen NSW’s entire pandemic response had given him the green light to alter the plans, but inside sources have since accused Perrottet of lying on his first day on the job. Nine news reporter Chris O’Keefe tweeted an exclusive scoop, saying “I have confirmed that Dr Chant did not endorse this new roadmap. The chief health officer warned the new premier these changes come with risk, but the decision was ultimately a matter for the government. A shift from Perrottet away from ‘the health advice.’”
NSW deputy premier Paul Toole clapped back in a breakfast interview on October 8, saying “I had a crisis cabinet meeting the day before, and Kerry Chant was in the meeting. We don’t make decisions without the support of NSW Health or Dr Kerry Chant." However, he somewhat clouded the issue, saying: “I think it’s important we get the balance right between keeping people safe but also opening up the economy." He also added: “I know the people are looking forward to Monday.”
Will vaccine passports be ready by October 11?
Despite the health orders requiring people in NSW to provide proof of vaccination before entering a business from October 11, how this will be done securely and credibly is still far from clear. Customer services minister Victor Dominello, who is overseeing the creation of a vaccination passport that will be part of the ServiceNSW check-in app, has only made one public statement about a timeline for the delivery of this new technology, back in late September before October 11 was announced as the reopening date. According to that timetable, a two-week trial for the vaccine passport was only due to start on October 6 and continue until October 20, leaving businesses with at least a nine-day gap between the state reopening and the vaccine passports being brought online. Quizzed about this at press briefing on October 7, Perrottet said he would update businesses by the end of the week on the status of the vaccine passports, however, no new information on when they will be accessible has yet been announced.
How will businesses deal with unvaccinated patrons who try to enter?
There have been several unsubstantiated comments from various members of the government, including health minister Brad Hazzard and customer services minister Victor Dominello, about “substantial fines” and “jail time” for unvaccinated patrons attempting to subvert the stay-at-home orders after October 11. However, as yet, no formal information has been published about how businesses are supposed to respond to unvaccinated people entering their premises. Even more confusing, NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller has said that the state’s police force will not be conducting spot checks and will only respond if businesses call triple zero.
Meanwhile, business owners have been crying out for clarity. Justine Baker, the chair of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) told Time Out: “The NTIA has been advocating for a clear compliance regime to be announced by the NSW government for months. The conflicting messaging from within the government on this matter has to stop, especially this close to the reopening date. We have asked the government to put the onus more on individuals to comply with the public health orders and risk penalties imposed by the police, rather than businesses bearing the primary responsibility of enforcing the public health orders and risking fines and closure themselves.”
Are Sydneysiders allowed to leave Greater Sydney before October 25?
On October 7, the same date that premier Perrottet announced the amendments to the roadmap, a spokesperson for deputy premier Paul Toole told the ABC that recreational day trips between Greater Sydney and regional NSW would be permitted from October 11, despite this being prohibited under the Berejiklian roadmap. This detail had also not been part of Perrottet’s announcement earlier that same day. The statement from Toole’s spokesperson suggested that journeys beyond Greater Sydney would be possible, so long as those visiting the regions did not attempt to stay overnight.
However, on the morning of October 8, Toole told RN Breakfast that the question of day trips for people living in Greater Sydney was in fact, “a little grey” and that the details would be “cleared up today”.
He then went on to more definitively state that day trips would not be allowed, before once again confusing the matter by repeating that “the health orders were a little bit not clear enough, they’re a little bit grey.”