Prime Minister Scott Morrison has praised the NSW and Victorian governments for their response to the COVID-19 outbreaks and said while he understands the frustrations caused by border closures, he respects the states' rights to enforce restrictions.
Speaking from Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Morrison said the "hotspot" model being used by most states when deciding when to close borders due to COVID-19 outbreaks was working well.
"We are dealing with a pandemic, that hasn't changed, but it doesn't change who we are, we are Australians," he said.
"These changes have been put in place by public health officials for public health reasons and that is their purpose, not to divide Australians but to keep Australians safe.
"State governments are elected by the people of their state to exercise their responsibility when it comes to the public health of the people in their state.
"As much as we would like there to be greater consistency across all of these things, we must respect their jurisdiction and their authority because they are ultimately responsible for what would happen in their state if there was an outbreak in their state and, as Prime Minister, I do respect that. "
Mr Morrison explained his own family was impacted by border closures, with plans to return to Sydney from Canberra put on hold due to the ACT border restrictions on greater Sydney.
When questioned about the NSW Government's decision to let the cricket test between Australia and India to go ahead at the Sydney Cricket Ground despite the coronavirus clusters across the city, Mr Morrison if he was in Sydney he would be happy to attend the match.
"I have great confidence in decisions the NSW government are making in relation to these matters and they'll be following the medical advice," he said.
"I am sure decisions will be based on the health advice and so, on that basis, I'm comfortable with those decision and if they say it can go ahead.
"If I was in Sydney, I would love to go there and sing the national anthem in the new form."
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