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Jacqui Lambie has unleashed an extraordinary attack on Gladys Berejiklian, accusing her of plunging Sydney into a crippling lockdown ‘half-pregnant.’
The New South Wales Premier is under mounting pressure to enforce tougher restrictions on ‘non-critical retail’ as the state’s coronavirus crisis worsens.
A furious Lambie questioned why retail giants such as Bunnings and The Reject Shop are permitted remain open to the public as Sydney suffers through its sixth week of lockdown.
The Tasmanian federal Senator accused Ms Berejiklian of being too slow in her response to the outbreak and urged the state leader to ‘stop mucking around’ with lockdown, a day after NSW recorded 233 new cases.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has been urged to ‘stop mucking around’ with Sydney lockdown. Pictured are residents in Sydney’s south-west on Wednesday
‘You have to go into shutdown. No mucking around with this. You can’t go in half pregnant,’ Ms Lambie told the Today show on Thursday.
‘That’s why she’s not getting anywhere in NSW. Shut them down.’
‘Unless you need a pharmacy, unless you need to eat or go to the supermarket preferably go online. Leave the tradies partly open in Bunnings. Shut it down.’
‘You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Go into lockdown.’
Bunnings was only open to tradespeople who needed supplies for essential or emergency jobs during Victoria’s most recent outbreak after the Delta strain of the virus crossed the border from NSW.
Lambie says the NSW Premier could learn a few lessons from her Victorian counterpart Daniel Andrews, who has plunged his state into five lockdowns since early 2020.
Jacqui Lambie (pictured) says Bunnings should only be open to tradies and not the public during lockdown
‘People can go on about last year and having a go at Daniel Andrews,’ she said.
‘You want to see the gold plate and see how it’s done. Four or five times they have been in lockdown and got out of it
‘No more 50 per cent with this Delta variant.
‘She came in too slow. I’m ropeable with her and I imagine some of those people in NSW should be too. Stop mucking around with it Gladys.’
Today Show host Karl Stefanovic agreed.
‘A friend of mine was in Bunnings in Sydney yesterday, he saw plenty of people browsing up and down the homewares, the garden supplies, the furniture,’ he said.
‘Surely this is not essential. It just sends the wrong message, doesn’t it?’
There are growing calls for retailers such as Bunnings (pictured) to shut its doors to the general public during lockdown
On Wednesday, the NSW Premier refused to answer questions from reporters as to why retailers such as Bunnings remain open, despite continually popping up on the state’s list of exposure sites
The Premier claimed NSW’s lockdown rules were ‘some of the harshest’ the nation had seen, but admitted ‘non-critical retail’ such as discount chain Reject Shop should be closed.
Source: Daily Mail
