Highlights
- Australia will raise weekly caps on international arrivals from February 15
- "The return of Australian residents is a priority," says Prime Minister Scott Morrison
- More than 211,000 people have returned from overseas over the course of the pandemic
Mr Morrison said South Australia would also increase the number of people it can intake to 530, while Victoria will increase to 1310, following decisions made during the national cabinet meeting on Friday.
The prime minister said discussions were continuing with Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan, as WA is “obviously still working through some of the issues of this latest case, and so we just want to make sure that that’s appropriately paced”.
In January, the number of international arrivals into NSW, Queensland and WA was halved "to manage the flow of returning Australians and other travellers who have been potentially exposed to the new variants."
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks during a press conference following a national cabinet meeting, at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP
Mr Morrison said that it was agreed once again that bringing back Australians stranded overseas will remain the government’s priority.
He also reiterated that the country’s international borders remain shut to all non-citizens and non-permanent residents.
“No-one can just come to Australia. To be able to come to Australia, you need to be an Australian resident or citizen or have a particular exemption in a particular occupation or something of that nature, which is handled through Border Force, to enable someone to come. And that is only a small proportion of the arrivals that come to Australia,” the prime minister said.
This comes just days after the prime minister signalled that the reopening of the country’s international borders would largely depend on the efficacy of the vaccines in containing the spread of the virus.
‘Relief for Aussies stranded overseas’
Australian expat Deborah Tellis who has been living in Bengaluru in south India along with her 16-year-old daughter for the past five years has been trying to return home in NSW ever since her long-term teaching contract came to an end in May last year.
Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Ms Tellis who has been bumped off her return flight multiple times since August last year said that today’s announcement to raise the caps by mid-February would come as a huge respite from agonising wait for nearly 40,000 Australians stranded abroad, of which most are stuck in India.
Deborah Tellis remains stranded in India. Source: Supplied by Ms Tellis
“I think Australians stranded overseas are going to be relieved because so many people have been bumped off their flights and had flights cancelled. So, maybe these flights will now be reinstated, and the level of stress can come down for some of those people who have tickets,” she said.
Hotel quarantine to remain:
The cabinet also determined the country's hotel quarantine system would remain despite recent coronavirus transmission into the facilities.
Reaffirming the importance of hotel quarantine, Chief health officer Professor Paul Kelly said that the country’s hotel quarantine arrangements are “top class”, but there’s always a chance of “human error”.
“There is absolutely a need to continually improve the quality of our quarantine. It is already really top class. We’ve seen only a small number of incursions from quarantine, and we need to understand these are complex systems with humans, and there is always an opportunity or a chance of human error,” said Prof Kelly.
Over 211,000 people have returned from overseas over the course of the pandemic.
Temporary visa holders remain in limbo:
But while caps have been raised to allow more stranded Australians to return home, there has been no change in the border restrictions for temporary visa holders, many of whom remain stuck in countries around the world, miles away from their homes, livelihoods and in some cases, even loved ones.
Divya Sharma, who remains stuck in north Indian state of Punjab with her husband and their one-year-old son said she is slowly losing hope of returning to their lives in Perth.
Divya Sharma with her husband and son. Source: Supplied by Ms Sharma
“We came here for my husband’s eye surgery in March and have been stuck here ever since with no hope to return and no financial means to survive.
“We have no jobs, my professional year has been on hold, my son’s vaccination is due -in short, our life has been temporarily suspended,” the 28-year-old said.
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