Police Minister David Elliott has responded to criticism of the NSW government’s decision to announce a state-wide lockdown over social media.

The decision to lock down the regions was made on Saturday afternoon after the regular 11am press conference, with NSW residents alerted to it first by a tweet from Deputy Premier John Barilaro.

The Police Minister defended Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s need to act swiftly on health advice, but admitted to Jim Wilson it could have been better publicised.

“These are legitimate questions from the community, and certainly legitimate questions from the media.

“I’m not going to defend it.

“We all make mistakes, and we all have errors of judgement.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

Moree Mayor Katrina Humphries told Jim Wilson the announcement was “a damn rock show”, and representatives of regional communities were left out of the discussion.

“I actually asked the question at 7 o’clock Friday … [of] my local member [Adam Marshall], if there’s any truth to this rumour.

“He said, ‘not planned, not discussed, not true’.

“Stop playing games with our lives!”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

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