A group of ACT residents stranded in Victoria have been given five days to drive home through NSW after changes to border restrictions prevented them from travelling through the state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Some 100 ACT residents were trapped at the border on Friday after a last-minute change to permits last week, forced to either remain in the state or abandon their vehicles and fly home.
The NSW government announced on Wednesday the group would be allowed to drive directly from Wodonga into the ACT between the hours of 9am and 3pm until August 17, provided they do not refuel or stop for food in the state.
Travellers must display an authorisation certificate and take the direct route through, with fatigue and bathroom breaks only allowed at designated locations.
READ MORE:
The amendment comes as the NSW government announced a period of financial leniency for NSW residents wanting to return from Victoria through hotel quarantine in Sydney.
Returned residents will have the fee for mandatory hotel quarantine waived until September 11.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the government had responded to concerns from the public that the cost of quarantine was a challenge for many NSW residents looking to return home as strict lockdown rules continue in Victoria.
"We have listened to the concerns of NSW residents who say they cannot afford to come home to NSW and will now give them more time to return," she said.
"We are asking any NSW residents who are in Victoria and want to come home to make their way back to NSW before Friday, 11 September 2020 if they want to avoid paying for hotel quarantine."