Queensland has recorded two new COVID-19 cases amid reports Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks is staying at a luxury Gold Coast mansion rather than in a government-mandated hotel.
The figures come as the premier again had to field questions about celebrities receiving special quarantine exemptions after reports Hanks and other members of a film crew were staying on a property in the Gold Coast hinterland.
The actor is in Australia to finish filming an Elvis Presley biopic by Australian director Baz Luhrmann.
Palaszczuk said she had been advised the Oscar-winner was “staying in a hotel” not a house.
“Very few countries are producing movies at the moment,” she said.
“There are a whole lot of jobs relying on that industry.”
It has been nine days since the Sunshine State has recorded a community transmission of COVID-19, while its number of active infections has fallen to 29.
The result comes as Queensland prepares to welcome ACT travellers on Sept. 25 and double its intake of international arrivals by the end of October.
The border will only open to Canberrans who arrive by plane and anyone coming from New South Wales via the ACT will have to wait 14 days before being allowed to fly.
Queensland will also lift its quota on international arrivals from 500 to 1000 by Oct. 24, with the government calling for expressions of interest from Brisbane and Cairns hotels to take returnees.
