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The father of a 10-year-old Sydney boy fighting for his life after a deadly helicopter crash on the Gold Coast that killed the child's mother has asked for prayers for his son.

Simon Tadros's wife Vanessa, 36, died with three other people when two Sea World Helicopters aircraft collided mid-air on Monday afternoon.

His son Nicholas has been in a coma and undergone multiple operations in hospital since the accident.

"I do ask that if everyone can please say a prayer for Nicky, so he can wake up and make a good recovery," Mr Tadros posted on social media on Tuesday night.

"He is in an induced coma on a life support machine to help him breath (sic).

"He is in a very serious and critical state. I'm asking for all your prayers to bring my little man back to me."

The crash near the Sea World amusement park also killed British-born pilot Ashley Jenkinson, 40, and Ron and Diane Hughes, 65 and 57, from Liverpool in the UK.

The helicopter, which had seven people aboard, fell from a height and slammed into a sandbar after its main rotor struck the windscreen of a second helicopter, and detached.

The two other survivors, nine-year-old Leon De Silva and his 33-year-old mother Winnie De Silva, from West Geelong, remain in hospital.

Leon has brain trauma while Ms De Silva suffered two broken legs, a damaged left knee, a broken right shoulder and a broken collarbone in the crash, which her husband Neil witnessed.

"Winnie and Leon's helicopter took off, it only went about 200m in the air," Mr de Silva told News Corp.

"I could see the other helicopter that was due to land ... it looked like they were going to crash into one another.

"As it got closer, I was thinking 'this is crazy, this looks really bad' and I just went numb".

He didn't find out his wife and stepson had survived until an hour and a half after the accident.

"It's tragic for Winnie and Leon, but they survived ... my heart goes out to the ones that didn't," Mr De Silva told Nine News.

An online fundraiser he set up to help pay for his wife and stepson's treatment and his Gold Coast accommodation while they recovered had raised more than $24,500 by Wednesday morning.

The second helicopter's cockpit was severely damaged, but 52-year-old pilot Michael James managed to land on the sandbar, saving the lives of his five passengers, four of whom suffered glass shrapnel injuries.

Mr James and two passengers were still in hospital on Tuesday night.

The passengers included a West Australian woman and two New Zealand couples in their 40s who were travelling together.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is probing the crash, in particular what was happening inside the two cockpits at the point of impact.

Chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said Mr Jenkinson's aircraft had taken off and was in the air for less than 20 seconds before its main rotor blades hit the cockpit of the second helicopter, which was coming in to land.

"Now, exactly whether that was the very first point of impact we're yet to determine," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"But that in itself has led to the main rotor and the gearbox separating from the main helicopter, which then had no lift and has fallen heavily to the ground."

© AAP 2023

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he's not concerned about China threatening retaliatory action with new COVID testing requirements due to come into effect.

Travellers from China will need to return a negative COVID test within 48 hours of departure from Thursday despite Australia's chief medical officer recommending against the new measure.

China criticised the measures, threatening to retaliate with reciprocal measures.

But details of the measures remain unclear, with China already requiring a negative test within 48 hours of departure and travellers only able to board a flight with a negative result.

China is fighting a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the entry restrictions targeting China lacked scientific bases.

"We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity," she said.

Dr Chalmers says he's not particularly concerned about the threat.

"Not especially," he told ABC radio when asked if the threat of retaliation worried him.

"Countries will make their own decisions about travel arrangements and how they manage COVID more broadly."

Dr Chalmers added that the requirement to have a medical practitioner supervise a rapid antigen test wasn't an onerous one for travellers despite China's hospital system facing immense strain.

The treasurer also maintained the measures were not discriminatory despite no new COVID-19 variants being discovered in China, saying the decision was cautionary with Beijing not being forthcoming with data.

"It's about a part of the world where we've got concerns about transparency ... and where there is quite an extraordinarily large wave of COVID," he said.

"We do need to make sure that we've got the best possible surveillance of strains as they emerge but also waves as they emerge and become more difficult to manage.

"That's really one of the key considerations here as we put these responsible restrictions in place."

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the government needed to explain why it didn't follow expert advice after Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly advised there were no public health reasons for the measure.

"This government made a commitment to the Australian public that we were going to learn to live with COVID," she told Sky News.

"A decision that has been based without any medical advice or medical necessity shows we aren't really pursuing that.

"It's a breach of faith with the Australian public about that commitment to say we were going to get on with our lives."

Australian Medical Association President Steve Robson says a genuine strategy rather than a "series of political responses" is needed to keep Australians safe.

"We want to see a comprehensive strategy that's informed by public health practice, to just say, 'what needs to be done to protect Australians at this vulnerable time?'" he told AAP.

© AAP 2023

The treasurer says China's COVID-19 outbreak is one of the biggest threats facing Australia's economy in 2023.

The government has been defending its decision to enforce negative COVID-19 tests on Chinese arrivals as a precaution against possible new virus variants that may develop as it spreads through China's population.

The wave of infections erupted after Beijing announced it was scrapping strict "zero-COVID" measures in favour of a new policy of living with the virus last month.

Australia's new travel restrictions have been enforced despite the chief health officer advising against pre-flight infection testing and calling for less disruptive measures, such as testing plane wastewater.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was protecting travellers as well as the economy by erring on the side of caution.

"(China's COVID situation) also has implications for the economy more broadly - the Chinese economy, the global economy, and therefore the Australian economy," he told ABC radio.

"So for all of these reasons, we've put these arrangements in place."

Australia's economic growth is expected to slow this year as high inflation and rising interest rates take a toll, but few predict a recession.

Dr Chalmers said while the government was trying to make Australia's supply chains more resilient, it couldn't just flick a switch.

Aside from China, the treasurer said he was also watching the war in Ukraine and how that will influence what happens in the US, UK and Europe this year, which in turn will affect what happens with global interest rates.

In Australia, the government remains alert to the fact that many low interest rate fixed-term mortgages will end this year and roll over to higher variable interest rate mortgages.

"That will put a lot of pressure on people," Dr Chalmers said.

Harvard University economics professor Ken Rogoff said economic conditions could be worse than expected in 2023.

"It could go in either direction, but chances are, it's going to be worst," he told ABC News radio.

He said China was a "wildcard" that could pull economies down two different paths, with the uncontrolled spread of COVID undoubtedly concerning.

But on the flip side, he said Chinese consumers could soon be back spending and travelling after years of restrictions, once the outbreaks die down.

However, a rapid burst in Chinese consumption could fuel inflation and put more pressure on central banks, Professor Rogoff warned.

Deteriorating economic conditions and higher interest rates are already slowing demand for Australia's manufactured goods.

The Judo Bank manufacturing purchasing manager's index returned another expansionary reading of 50.2 despite declines in output and new orders.

But Judo Bank chief economic advisor Warren Hogan said Australia's manufacturing industry was holding up better than the US, Europe and Japan.

"The latest PMI survey results are consistent with the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy changes in 2022 effectively rebalancing the economy without causing a sudden downturn in activity," Mr Hogan said.

© AAP 2023