NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has blasted plans to re-open pubs in wealthy parts of Sydney with low Covid numbers as 2.5million people in the city’s disadvantaged west endure crippling curfews.
The state government will conduct a trial in early October allowing fully vaccinated people to check-in to pubs and bars using the ServiceNSW app.
This is expected to occur in parts of Sydney’s North Shore with low case numbers, such as Mosman and Turramurra.
This has raised fears of a class divide between wealthy postcodes and Sydney’s west and south-west – where 80 per cent of Covid cases are being recorded.
They face being locked down with harsher restrictions, including a 9pm to 5am curfew, until at least mid-October as fully-vaccinated residents north and east of the Harbour Bridge are allowed to enjoy life again.
The proposal comes as some of the city’s most cosmopolitan suburbs near the city, from Darlinghurst to Bondi, lag behind those in locked-down local government areas as Sydney’s lockdown approaches the eleventh week.
Trendy and cosmopolitan suburbs near the city are lagging behind the rest of Sydney in the vaccination rollout as the lockdown approaches the eleventh week
Nearby Bondi, in the neighbouring Waverley council, has first dose rate of just 49 per cent, even though the Delta outbreak started in this part of the eastern suburbs in June
Residents in 12 areas are subject to a curfew even though there is no evidence to say it helps keep cases low. Pictured: Residents in Bankstown
Immunisation rates have surged in western and south-west Sydney where individual suburb case numbers are in the hundreds, while some trendy inner-city postcodes are well below the average.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Minns said this would be unacceptable and called for an equal re-opening of all suburbs at the same time.
‘We cant have a situation where people in Mosman can go and have a rosé but you can’t have a beer in Blacktown,’ he said.
‘It’s time for the government to put the phrase ”we’re all in this together” into action and that means there has to be an equal opening.’
In Blacktown, 85.7 per cent of those aged 16 and over have had a first dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer, putting it ahead of Mosman’s 81.2 per cent and well above the state average of 75 per cent.
Deputy Labor leader Prue Car, who has a western Sydney electorate, also demanded equal treatment for city’s west, saying ‘western Sydney will have something to say about this’ if a pub trial goes ahead on the north shore.
A pub trial will go ahead at the start of October, expected in suburbs with low cases. Pictured: Manly Beach
Residents wear face masks as they do essential food shopping in Bankstown on Wednesday
Mr Minns praised Treasurer Dominic Perrottet – who on Wednesday said the whole of Sydney should open at the same time – but he wants more clarity from Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
‘In reality we need to find out what the plan is from the NSW government because millions of people are relying on their direction,’ he said.
The Labor leader also urged the government to release its roadmap out of lockdown now, even if it needs changing in the future.
‘This is something I’ve been saying for a long time, that we need to know the plan,’ he said.
‘The drip feed of restrictions being eased almost on a weekly basis is very difficult to follow and impossible to plan for.
‘If the government is forced because of changes to vaccination rates to shift or alter that plan then I think the people of Sydney would understand,’ he added.
On Wednesday Ms Berejiklian said the roadmap – which will allow fully vaccinated people to go to bars and restaurants when 70 per cent of the state is jabbed – was almost finished but she still refused to release it.
‘To be honest, it’s the final touches. The road map is essentially in good shape. We’ve made great progress,’ she said.
Mr Minns also called on the premier to immediately remove the 9pm to 5am curfew imposed on 2.5million people in 12 areas of concern – after Deputy Premier John Barilaro admitted it was only imposed due to media pressure and did not help reduce cases.
‘I’m really hoping the premier listens to common sense,’ the Labor leader said.
Father-of-three Chris Minns (pictured with his wife and children) has insisted that all Sydney suburbs should open at the same time
‘I can understand that in a pandemic a government makes quick decisions and judgement calls but the curfew only increases stigma against people in those communities.
‘It’s hurting the ability of people to do exercise, particularly shift workers if they want to go for a run or exercise outside home.
‘Often times once the kids are in bed, after dark is the only time you can do it.’
Mr Minns also said the boundary of where the curfew applies is at odds with the case data.
‘It’s a real concern the arbitrary nature of the boundaries. There are some local government areas of concern that have lower case numbers than other parts of Sydney without a curfew,’ he said.
The Premier said the areas were designated in accordance with health advice.
‘It’s important to note that to any area of concern, it’s based on head of population.
‘So some councils have smaller populations than others. You can’t do it on a case-by-case comparison. Have you to do it per 100,000 population, which is what the health experts do,’ she said.
Ms Berejiklian also insisted that when the 70 per cent jab rate is reached, freedoms will be available to all vaccinated people regardless of location.
‘I’m extremely optimistic that at 70 per cent double dose shall everybody who is vaccinated will enjoy life much more freely than what we do today,’ she said.
‘Once we know it’s safe enough, it doesn’t matter where you live in the state, whether it’s Sydney or the regions, if there’s anything we can do to ease the burden of what everybody has been through, we will do that.
‘It’s never been our intention to put more pressure on people than we need to and that’s been our position since the beginning of the pandemic.
‘Our intention from day one has been to prevent death and hospitalisation and support communities in as safe a way as possible.
‘I’d rather have this conversation than a conversation as to why we allowed thousands to die and why thousands suffered.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Services Minister Victor Dominello, who is overseeing the pub trial, for comment.
How inner-city suburbs are lagging behind the rest of Sydney in the vaccine rollout as the lockdown approaches week 11
By Stephen Johnson, Economics Reporter for Daily Mail Australia
Trendy and cosmopolitan suburbs near the city are lagging behind the rest of Sydney in the vaccination rollout as the lockdown approaches the eleventh week.
Immunisation rates have surged in western and south-west Sydney where individual suburb case numbers are in the hundreds.
Across New South Wales, 75 per cent of people aged 16 and over have had at least one dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer, the highest in Australia.
But inner-city postcodes remain well below the average with just 60.8 per cent of residents in the City of Sydney council area having had any dose. At Surry Hills, Darlinghurst (pictured) and Redfern, just 49 per cent have had a first dose
The hotspot Blacktown council area in the city’s west has seen first dose rates surge to 85.7 per cent as vaccination levels in the Parramatta local government area climbed to 81.7 per cent.
Average-above immunisation rates are also evident in other LGA hotspots including Campbelltown (82.5 per cent) and Canterbury-Bankstown (76.7 per cent).
But inner-city postcodes remain well below the average with just 60.8 per cent of residents in the City of Sydney council area having had any dose.
At Surry Hills, Darlinghurst and Redfern, just 49 per cent have had a first dose.
Zetland and Waterloo had a single-jab rate of just 39 per cent.
In the nearby Randwick council area, just 67.4 per cent of people had received a dose, but within this boundary less than 59 per cent have had a jab at Coogee.
Nearby Bondi, in the neighbouring Waverley council, has first dose rate of just 49 per cent, even though the Delta outbreak started in this part of the eastern suburbs in June.
These beachside postcodes also have a younger population than the national average with many renters in this area.
Professor Sarah Gilbert, a University of Oxford vaccinologist who co-designed the AstraZeneca vaccine, suggested younger people may not have to get an annual Covid booster shot longer term.
‘The oldest members of society, those who’re immunocompromised, are going to need regular boosters, but for younger people, we normally see good maintenance of immune responses,’ she told the ABC’s 7.30 program.
‘So there may be a first booster program but I wouldn’t expect it to happen every single year.
‘We are going to of develop long-term immunity to this virus, as we have to other coronaviruses that circulate every year and, in fact, just give us a cold because we get exposed in childhood, we develop our immunity to it and then it’s not really a threat to us anymore.’
In the nearby Randwick council area, just 67.4 per cent of people had received a dose, but within this boundary less than 59 per cent have had a jab at Coogee (pictured)
Burnet Institute modelling has suggested tighter restrictions and 530,000 more Pfizer doses in 12 local government area hotspots in Sydney would have saved 5,808 lives between June and December 2021.
Since the Delta outbreak in June, 153 have died with Covid in NSW, with these deaths making up three-quarters of the 199 fatalities that had occurred since the pandemic began in early 2020.
This toll included the nine deaths announced in Wednesday, including an unvaccinated man in his 20s from western Sydney who had serious underlying health issues.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is promising to unwind most lockdown restrictions but keep face mask rules in place from mid-October when 70 per cent of the working age and adult population was fully vaccinated.
As of September 6, 41.8 per cent have had a second dose.
Sydney’s Upper North Shore has the highest double-vaccination rate of 59.6 per cent in the Ku-ring-gai council area, compared with 41.6 per cent in Blacktown council.
But in the City of Sydney council area, just 36.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Within that boundary, just 19 per cent are double vaccinated at Waterloo and Zetland, with Darlinghurst and Surry Hills having an equivalent rate of just 29 per cent.