Gladys Berejiklian comes out swinging against ‘frenemy’ Annastacia Palaszczuk by saying she is disappointed the Queensland premier wanted to lower the caps for international …

Gladys Berejiklian has taken a swipe at ‘frenemy’ Annastasia Palaszczukby saying she is disappointed the Queensland premier called for lower the caps for international arrivals.

Ms Palaszczuk on Thursday said she wants the travel cap of arrivals to be reduced by at least 50 per cent, which has since been granted by Scott Morrison. 

‘We are at capacity. We’re stretched, and we need an immediate reduction by 50 per cent,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.

When asked on Friday morning about the Queensland premier’s suggestions, Ms Berejiklian said her ‘heart goes out to thousands’ of Australians who are still stranded overseas.

‘Secondly, and I expressed this view – I have expressed it publicly, but I have also expressed it to my colleagues, the Premiers and Chief Ministers in other jurisdictions: Just because you reduce the number of people coming in, doesn’t mean outbreaks aren’t going to happen,’ she told reporters after announcing 31 new cases in NSW.

When asked on Friday morning about the Queensland premier’s suggestions, Ms Berejiklian (pictured) said her ‘heart goes out to thousands’ of Australians who have had to wait longer to come home from overseas

Ms Palaszczuk on Thursday said she wants the travel cap of arrivals into Queensland to be reduced by at least 50 per cent

‘NSW, without complaint, has been welcoming home 3,000 Aussies every single week. We have more than 5,500 people in our quarantine system right now.

‘Yes, we have had issues but if you compare that to other states who have only had a few hundred coming in or far less numbers, bringing less people home doesn’t mean you won’t have outbreaks.’

Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland’s hotel quarantine system was ‘stretched’ and ‘down to the final number of beds’.

‘We are now searching for additional hotels for our hotel quarantine,’ she said.

Scott Morrison on Friday announced Australia’s weekly arrival cap will be cut in half to decrease the risk of Covid-19 outbreaks from hotel quarantine.

Scott Morrison on Friday announced Australia’s weekly arrival cap will be cut in half to decrease the risk of Covid-19 outbreaks from hotel quarantine 

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Wednesday said the caps should not be cut because Australians should be allowed to come home. Pictured: Sydney hotel quarantine at the Marriott

He announced the change after a National Cabinet meeting on Friday morning as 12 million Australians endured lockdowns.

International arrivals were capped at 6,370 a week but Labor premiers wanted this dramatically reduced.

Ms Berejiklian – whose state has taken half of all returned travellers – said she didn’t agree but accepted the decision.

‘I am disappointed that every State hasn’t done its fair share but I appreciate and have to respect the decision of National Cabinet,’ she said.

What were the weekly arrival caps before the cut in half? 

NSW: 3,010 

QLD: 1,300

VIC: 1,000

SA: 530 

WA: 530

NT: Federal repatriation flights to Howard Springs

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‘I don’t support the view that other Premiers have that this means mistakes aren’t going to happen and we’re not going to have outbreaks. That is still going to occur,’ she warned. 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews disagreed with his NSW counterpart, saying: ‘We have it within our power to dramatically reduce the number of people who are coming back just for these next three or four months until we get a critical mass of people with a jab. 

‘It won’t be easy to lock some people out. But locking some people out is much better than locking everybody down,’ he added. 

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews on Wednesday said the caps should not be cut because Australians should be allowed to come home. 

Chief Health Officer Paul Kelly said only six in 1,000 international arrivals had Covid-19. 

The National Cabinet also focussed on the troubled national vaccine rollout and mixed messaging around the AstraZeneca jab.

Mr Morrison on Monday said Australians under 40 could consult their GP about getting the abundant AstraZeneca vaccine.

But Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young urged said they should wait for Pfizer because of a very small risk of blood clots.