Mr McGowan, the WA Premier, reignited an ongoing border feud with the Berejiklian Government yesterday when he said Australia "could rest a lot easier" if COVID-19 was eliminated in NSW.

NSW recorded five locally acquired coronavirus cases in the 24 hours to 8.00pm yesterday — two of which were reported yesterday.

Two of the other cases were from the northern beaches and one is linked to the Berala cluster in Western Sydney.

The northern beaches cases are a man and a woman in their 40s who are household contacts and the case in Berala was a close contact of a confirmed case and was already in isolation.

Yesterday, Mr McGowan claimed NSW's strategy of suppressing the virus was out of step with the rest of the country — something Mr Barilaro today described as "offensive".

"It was never about elimination, we know we can't eliminate it, it's about no community transmission," Mr Barilaro told Nine Radio.

"For Mark McGowan it's easy, he puts up the borders in Western Australia, he cuts himself off from the rest of the nation, he called me un-Australian when I questioned him on his lecturing of New South Wales."

WA has consistently had Australia's toughest border restrictions throughout the pandemic, and Mr Barilaro claimed the state's hard-line stance could have dire consequences.

"We've had COVID deaths in this nation but we're going to have more deaths from mental health, from people being locked away in isolation, people not being able to reunite with family, and Mark McGowan, that's actually what he stands for," he said.

"I'm happy to say that this morning and have a go straight back at him.

"Stop lecturing us, look after your own backyard ... but you know what, we're doing a bloody good job on the eastern seaboard and why don't you become a part of the rest of this country?"

China's ongoing trade war with Australia has impacted a range of exports including timber, beef and mining and Mr Barilaro warned Mr McGowan his state's economy, which relies heavily on shipping iron ore to the global superpower, could suffer.

"He's relying on royalties from mining — gee, the way China's going that may bite him on the bum," Mr Barilaro said.

"If he wants to be the type of Premier that works with the rest of us, great. But don't lecture us."

Premier Gladys Berejiklian this morning said she "couldn't care less" about criticism levelled at her about keeping borders open and urged other leaders to remember "we are all citizens of Australia".

"It took us quite a considerable time to close the Victorian border last year because we knew the hardship it would cause people," she said.

"I think we need to show compassion to one another and appreciate that we'd feel differently if we were in the shoes of our people."

Yesterday Mr McGowan said NSW should be aiming to eliminate "the virus from Sydney".

"The idea that you tick along with the virus, and somehow that is a better model, is wrong," he said.

"I just urge the New South Wales Government and people in New South Wales to look outside of New South Wales [to] what other states and territories are doing in order to crush and kill the virus."

Previously, Mr McGowan urged NSW to stop "playing whack-a-mole" in the areas where the virus surfaced.

Acting Prime Minister Michael McCormack today told Channel 7 NSW was the "benchmark" for coronavirus management.

"I think any criticism of NSW is very hasty," he said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian issued a plea for more testing after only 14,700 were conducted in the last 24 hours.

NSW Health last night announced several new venues that are associated with today's new locally acquired cases.

These include the Blacktown Workers Sports Club and other venues in Warriewood.

Story By | Jessica Kidd