Highlights
- Planning is underway to be able to “open up Australia more than we are now," says PM Scott Morrison
- Australia's decision to reopen international borders will depend on how many Australians get vaccinated: PM
- 'Frustrated' temporary visa holders stuck outside Australia demand a timeline to return
Mr Morrison on Friday said that the government is seeking advice from the medical expert panel on preconditions that are needed to be fulfilled in order to reopen Australia’s international borders, to allow vaccinated people to travel overseas and return without having to go into hotel quarantine.
“That will be a major change and to extent to which Australians returning from overseas who have had recognised vaccines also approved here in Australia with appropriate accreditation can return to Australia on that same basis and to enable potentially down the track travel from low-risk countries with similar vaccine arrangements," he said.
Mr Morrison, however, was quick to warn that none of those things is materialising anytime soon.
“No one is saying that any of those things are coming in today but what we are working and planning for and have tasked the medical professionals who advise us on is what are the marks we have to meet to enable us to start opening up Australia more than we are now?” he said while addressing the media after the National Cabinet meeting on Friday.
This comes days after the New Zealand government announced its decision to allow quarantine-free travel for Australians from April 19.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Source: AAP
Mr Morrison added that the success of the Trans-Tasman travel bubble will set the stage for which countries could be next in line for establishing safe travel zones with Australia.
"I have mentioned Singapore before as an obvious next choice but at this stage, it is still some time away. The message from National Cabinet is we want to open up more, we want to do it safely, we want to ease restrictions, we want to do that in a consistent way across the country…” he said.
'We do not want to hear plans to reopen borders, we want the government to act'
For temporary visa holders stranded in India, Australia’s plan to gradually ease border restrictions with low-risk countries is a cause for “cautious" optimism.
International student Ashish Singh completed his master’s degree in international tourism and hotel management in 2020 and remains stranded in Raipur in central India.
Ashish Singh is an international student who remains stuck in India. Source: Supplied by Mr Singh
Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Mr Singh says he has been hearing about the Australian government’s plans to reopen the borders, “but there has been no action, only delays.”
“They need to show some compassion to students and other temporary migrants who have been stranded away from their lives and jobs for more than a year. We have run out of patience and it would be great if the government could give us some timeline for the return rather than announcing proposals that never materialise,” he laments.
Mr Singh’s concerns resonate with thousands of international students and other temporary visa holders who remain stranded in India. Some of them staged a protest in New Delhi against Australia’s border restrictions on April 6, seeking a timeline for their return.
The more Australians who are vaccinated, the more likelihood there is to open borders: PM
International students and temporary migrants protest in New Delhi against the Australian government's border closure. Source: Supplied by Akshit Bhasin
The prime minister said besides medical advice, the decision to open international borders and allow more people to return to the country also rides on how many Australians get vaccinated in the course of time.
“The more Australians who are vaccinated, the more likelihood there is of being able to have the types of arrangements that I mentioned. If the vaccination population is lower, then that of course limits to options of borders, and of the other things that we've spoken about,” he said.
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