‘Money talks’: Australian woman’s fury after returning from a coronavirus-free nation to be told she has to quarantine at a hotel for two weeks – while Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban get to stay at their $6.5million mansion
- Nicola Ferguson travelled to New Zealand to say goodbye to her dying mother
- Australian woman think it’s unfair she has to quarantine in a hotel on her return
- New Zealand has essentially eliminated coronavirus whereas Australia has not
- Celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are quarantining at home
An Australian traveller who left the country to say goodbye to her dying mother has criticised the government for giving celebrities ‘special treatment’ with hotel quarantine.
Nicola Ferguson will be forced to wait out her 14 days of government mandated quarantine in a hotel when she returns home from New Zealand – which has zero cases of COVID-19 in the community.
Meanwhile Nicole Kidman and Danni Minogue were granted special exemptions allowing them to self-isolate in the comfort of their own homes when they returned to Australia.
Ms Ferguson said income shouldn’t make a difference when it comes to health and safety regulations.
Nicola Ferguson (pictured) is frustrated by celebrities getting special treatment after having her own exemption knocked back to skip hotel quarantine from coronavirus free New Zealand
‘Money obviously talks a lot louder than the average taxpaying citizen in Australia,’ she told Nine.
Ms Ferguson applied for an exemption after returning from New Zealand – which has zero cases of community transmission – where she had been comforting her mother in her dying days as well as organising her funeral.
Her application was refused by Queensland Health on the basis it ‘didn’t meet the threshold for exceptional circumstances.’
Ms Ferguson said it doesn’t make sense that she has to isolate when New Zealand is essentially free of the virus.
Ms Ferguson said income shouldn’t make a difference when it comes to health and safety regulations (pictured: Warren Theobald looks out the window during his stay in hotel quarantine in Brisbane)
Isolating in luxury: Instead of two weeks of hotel quarantine, Nicole and Keith are staying at their Southern Highlands estate (pictured), which boasts traditional sandstone verandahs, pressed metal ceilings, a grand cedar staircase and 10 original marble fireplaces
Australian actress Nicole Kidman (right), her country music singer husband Keith Urban (left) and their two daughters touched down in Sydney in a private jet from the US on Monday morning. They are quarantining in a mansion instead of a hotel
‘Nobody disputes that quarantine is necessary. It is not necessary from a COVID-free country,’ she said
Returning travellers have been forced to spend 14 days locked in state-approved hotel rooms as part of government protocols for COVID-19 since March 28.
However, A-listers Nicole Kidman, 53, and Keith Urban, 52, touched down in Sydney on a private jet this week and went straight to their $6.5millon mansion in the Southern Highlands.
A-listers Nicole Kidman, 53 and Keith Urban, 52 touched down in Sydney on a private jet this week and went straight to their $6.5millon mansion in the Southern Highlands
The couple were granted permission by the New South Wales Government to self-isolate at home instead of staying at a quarantine hotel for two weeks.
Instead up being cooped up in a room while avoiding the hefty hotel quarantine bill, Kidman and her family have 45 hectares to roam during their fortnight of self-isolation, along with access to their own swimming pool, gym and full-sized tennis court.
It comes a week after The Masked Singer judge Dannii Minogue and her young son Ethan were granted medical exemption to quarantine at a private property on the Gold Coast after arriving from the US.
Dannii Minogue (pictured) is enjoying her time in self-isolation at a private property on the Gold Coast after returning from the US last week