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Police will be targeting Canberra’s national institutions and NSW number plates to enforce the border ban on anyone who has recently been in Sydney. Border checks on the Federal Highway started on Saturday when the ACT government beefed up its border rules. Queues at one point stretched for kilometres as people returned to Canberra from holidays. Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan says the focus this week will switch to compliance checks within the ACT’s own borders, particularly near national institutions like the National Gallery of Australia. “You still will see at some times road blocks … but we’ll also do things slightly differently within the ACT, particularly around some of our major roads [like] Adelaide Avenue, Northbourne Avenue and Canberra Avenue,” he said. “We’ll basically do [random breath testing] type checks to ensure people are adhering to the health directions. “Particularly around areas of national interest, our national institutions particularly around Parkes and Barton.” He said police would be targeting NSW registered vehicles, which account for about 10 per cent of vehicles on ACT roads. Since Saturday, police have stopped about 7,500 vehicles on the Federal Highway and Sutton Road. Some 156 vehicles were turned around and 280 ACT residents were told to go into home quarantine. There are now more than 2700 people in home quarantine across the territory. The border ban applies to anyone who has recently been in Sydney, the central coast and Wollongong. ACT residents in those areas are able to enter the territory but must complete 14 days of home quarantine. Police said on Monday that a request for assistance at the border checkpoints had been made to ACT Emergency Services and the Australian Defence Force. But Mr Barr said while the ADF might help with some logistical support “around the edges”, they would not be involved in enforcement. An Australian War Memorial spokesman said some visitors from hotspot areas had been refused entry. READ MORE: “On arrival, visitors are asked where they are from and whether they have visited a hotspot area, in line with ACT government requirements and timeframes,” he said. “Some visitors have been refused entry, and wherever possible their details are obtained for ACT Health contact tracing and reporting requirements. “Visitors must have a ticket to visit the Memorial and these are available at awm.gov.au/visit, or have registered their details via the Check In CBR app.”
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Police will be targeting Canberra’s national institutions and NSW number plates to enforce the border ban on anyone who has recently been in Sydney.
Border checks on the Federal Highway started on Saturday when the ACT government beefed up its border rules.
Queues at one point stretched for kilometres as people returned to Canberra from holidays.
Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan says the focus this week will switch to compliance checks within the ACT’s own borders, particularly near national institutions like the National Gallery of Australia.
“You still will see at some times road blocks … but we’ll also do things slightly differently within the ACT, particularly around some of our major roads [like] Adelaide Avenue, Northbourne Avenue and Canberra Avenue,” he said.
“We’ll basically do [random breath testing] type checks to ensure people are adhering to the health directions.
“Particularly around areas of national interest, our national institutions particularly around Parkes and Barton.”
He said police would be targeting NSW registered vehicles, which account for about 10 per cent of vehicles on ACT roads.
Since Saturday, police have stopped about 7,500 vehicles on the Federal Highway and Sutton Road.
Some 156 vehicles were turned around and 280 ACT residents were told to go into home quarantine.
There are now more than 2700 people in home quarantine across the territory.
The border ban applies to anyone who has recently been in Sydney, the central coast and Wollongong. ACT residents in those areas are able to enter the territory but must complete 14 days of home quarantine.
But Mr Barr said while the ADF might help with some logistical support “around the edges”, they would not be involved in enforcement.
An Australian War Memorial spokesman said some visitors from hotspot areas had been refused entry.
“On arrival, visitors are asked where they are from and whether they have visited a hotspot area, in line with ACT government requirements and timeframes,” he said.
“Some visitors have been refused entry, and wherever possible their details are obtained for ACT Health contact tracing and reporting requirements.
“Visitors must have a ticket to visit the Memorial and these are available at awm.gov.au/visit, or have registered their details via the Check In CBR app.”
Roads near institutions like the National Gallery of Australia will be the target of police checks. Picture: Karleen Minney
