Loading "Why wasn't such crucial information handed over while Gladys Berejiklian and Brad Hazzard were being accused of all responsibility," the source said. Mr Constance fired back at his colleagues, accusing them of playing politics. "First and foremost there are people who have lost loved ones and who are suffering who need the full picture". "It is vital that the whole story and chronology come out and the only person who can do that is the detective running the police investigation," he said. "This is above politics and so goddamn serious and my colleagues would do well to remember that." Ms Berejiklian and Mr Hazzard have been repeatedly pressed on whether NSW Health was to blame for allowing almost 2700 passengers to disembark the cruise ship on March 19, hours before positive coronavirus cases on board were confirmed.

Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video But phone logs show a series of calls between the ship's crew and the ports authority, which had initially not allowed the ship to dock because of coronavirus fears but then overturned that decision after being led to believe that there was no COVID-19 risk. There are more than 600 cases of COVID-19 in passengers from the ship and 11 people have died. A criminal investigation led by homicide police is now underway, with thousands of witnesses to be interviewed. Another senior government source said: "I can't believe that the Ports Minister didn't hand over this straight away. If he says he wasn't aware, that only makes it worse."

One minister said: "We know the minister has had a lot on his plate but for this to happen just weeks after his failure over the metro, which costs taxpayers billions, this one is just unforgivable." Another senior MP said the government "has wanted to be transparent the whole way but the fact that this information wasn't released is appalling", while another said "Constance should have been giving air cover to the Premier at a time she really needed it". The unrest in the government came as the Ruby Princess docked at Port Kembla, south of Sydney, early on Monday morning, where it is expected to stay for about 10 days. A statement from NSW Police said: "The Ruby Princess will be berthing at the port of Port Kembla from today to allow for safer access for medical assessments, treatment or emergency extractions of her crew. "It is believed the vessel may remain in place for up to 10 days, but the crew will not disembark unless in an emergency and approved by the NSW Police Commissioner.