Queenslander Nicola Ferguson will have to pay thousands to stay in managed isolation. Photo / 9 News
Queenslander Nicola Ferguson will have to pay thousands to stay in managed isolation. Photo / 9 News
An Australian woman who has returned from New Zealand after visiting her dying mother has criticised the Australian Government for giving celebrities "special treatment" over hotel quarantine.
Queenslander Nicola Ferguson will have to pay thousands to stay in managed isolation in a Brisbane hotel for 14 days after saying goodbye to her mother before organising her funeral, 9 News reports.
Meanwhile, celebrities including Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, as well as Dannii Minogue, have all been granted quarantine exemptions to self-isolate in their mansion homes in NSW and Queensland.
This "special treatment" angers Ferguson who believes the system doesn't make sense, especially as she is coming from a country that has had no community transmission since April 28.
The recent new cases in New Zealand have come from people overseas who are staying in managed isolation.
"Money obviously talks a lot louder than the average taxpaying citizen in Australia," she told 9 News.
Queenslander Nicola Ferguson will have to pay thousands to stay in managed isolation. Photo / 9 News
"Nobody disputes that quarantine is necessary. It is not necessary from a Covid-free country."
Ferguson was denied a quarantine exemption to isolate in her home, with Queensland Health saying it denied her request as it "does not meet the threshold for exceptional circumstances".
Meanwhile, A-listers Kidman, 53, and Urban, 52, landed in Sydney from Tennessee on a private jet with their daughters Sunday Rose, 12, and Faith Margaret, 9.
Actor Nicole Kidman and musician Keith Urban. Photo / Getty Images
The family managed to get permission from the New South Wales Government to isolate for two weeks at their $6.5 million mansion in the Southern Highlands rather than at a quarantine hotel.
In a recent report, it was revealed that Minogue, 48, and her 10-year-old son Ethan are spending 14 days self-isolating at a Gold Coast private residence.
Queensland's chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young has denied Minogue received special treatment, saying they were given exemption as their home adhered to the same requirements as its quarantine hotels.
"[Ms Minogue] has a Covid-safe plan that is being managed by an independent third party. That's the reason she got that exemption," she said.
According to the NSW Government website, everyone returning to Australia must isolate for 14 days unless granted an exemption which will "only be considered where there are strong medical, health or compassionate grounds".
Or if the traveller is "transiting out of NSW to an international destination other than a Pacific Island country".
