Highlights
- Australia to cut the number of international arrivals by half from 14 July till year-end
- National Cabinet took this decision to ease pressure off Australia’s quarantine system
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison also announced a four-phase COVID management plan
Australian citizen Zabiullah Syed and his family were due to arrive in Australia from India on 17 July.
He said the family’s hopes have been dashed after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a reduction in the number of commercial flights arriving in Australia from 14 July till the end of the year.
However, Mr Morrison also said that more government-facilitated flights will be operated during the period of the cap.
“I’m devasted to hear this news. It’s a big blow,” Mr Syed told SBS Hindi over the phone from India’s southern state of Telangana.
Australia will now cap the number of international arrivals at 3,035 passengers a week, down from 6,370 a week.
States like Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia had demanded a cut in the number of overseas arrivals until a large section of the population gets vaccinated.
While making this announcement, Mr Morrison also said that more government-facilitated flights will be run during the period of the reduced cap on commercial flights. These flights will bring international passengers to the Howard Springs quarantine facility in Darwin.
“We will be enhancing that, increasing that for major ports to ensure we can keep the pace of bringing Australians home,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
Mr Syed said he had paid INR 630,000 (approximately AUD 11,300) to secure seats with Japan Airlines after he failed to book seats on the flights facilitated by the Australian government.
Australian citizen Zabiullah Syed his wife Hafsa Ibrahim Syeda and their son Syed Mohammed have booked their return with Japan Airlines for 17 July. Source: Supplied by Zabiullah Syed
“We booked our tickets as the seats were confirmed. Now, we are not sure whether our flight will even take off or not,” he said with concern.
Mr Syed said his wife, Hafsa Ibrahim, is pregnant and can fly only till the end of July.
“We want our child to be born in Australia,” Mr Syed said.
The family has been making efforts to return to Australia since March.
According to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), nearly 10,300 Australian citizens and permanent residents in India had expressed their willingness to return to Australia as on 25 June.
After India, the maximum number of stranded Australians are said to be in the UK, the US, the Philippines and Thailand.
At least five government-facilitated flights have returned from India in June with more than 800 passengers, DFAT had told SBS Hindi last week.
PM Morrison also stated that this decision is subject to medical advice from public health experts.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced that Australia will reduce the number of incoming commercial flights by 50 per cent from 14 July. Source: Getty
“If medical advice suggests that we can alter that, then, of course, the National Cabinet has always been receptive to that advice and we’ll continue to monitor that.
“We wouldn’t want to keep those caps in place any longer than we have to,” he said.
Prime Minister Morrison also announced a four-phase plan to deal with the virus.
In phase one, which is the current pre-vaccination phase, governments will impose lockdowns as the “last resort” and look for alternative quarantine arrangements.
In the second or the post-vaccination phase, the federal government will restore inbound passenger caps to previous levels for unvaccinated returning travellers and lockdowns will be imposed in extreme circumstances.
In the third phase, the outbound travel restriction could be lifted for vaccinated residents, and the federal government will establish a travel bubble with more countries.
In the final phase, Australia could open travel for non-vaccinated people with certain pre-travel conditions.
Here is the federal government’s detailed four-phase plan:
Current Phase: Vaccinate, Prepare and Pilot
- Implement the national vaccination plan to offer every Australian an opportunity to be vaccinated with the necessary doses of the relevant vaccine as soon as possible
- Temporarily reduce commercial inbound passenger arrivals to all major ports by 50 per cent from current caps by 14 July to reduce the pressure on quarantine facilities due to the increased risk of the Delta strain of the virus
- Lockdowns to be used only as a last resort
- Commonwealth to facilitate increased commercial flights to increase international repatriation to Darwin for quarantine at the National Resilience Facility at Howard Springs
- Commonwealth to extend additional support through the International Freight Assistance Mechanism to ensure maintenance of essential freight supply lines impacted by the reduction of commercial caps at international airports
- Trial and pilot the introduction of alternative quarantine options, including home quarantine for returning vaccinated travellers
- Expand commercial trials for limited entry of student and economic visa holders
- Recognise and adopt the existing digital Medicare Vaccination Certificate (automatically generated for every vaccination registered on the Australian Immunisation Register)
- Establish digital vaccination authentication at international borders
- Prepare the vaccine booster programme
- Undertake a further review of the national hotel quarantine network
B. Post-vaccination phase
- Ease restrictions on vaccinated residents, such as lockdowns and border controls
- Lockdowns only in extreme circumstances to prevent escalating hospitalisation and fatality
- Restore inbound passenger caps to previous levels for unvaccinated returning travellers and larger caps for vaccinated returning travellers
- Allow capped entry of student and economic visa holders subject to quarantine arrangements and availability
- Introduce new reduced quarantine arrangements for vaccinated residents
- Prepare/implement the vaccine booster programme (depending on timing)
C. Consolidation phase
Manage COVID-19 consistent with public health management of other infectious diseases. Measures may include:
- No lockdowns
- Continue vaccine booster programme
- Exempt vaccinated residents from all domestic restrictions
- Abolish caps on returning vaccinated travellers
- Allow increased capped entry of student, economic and humanitarian visa holders
- Lift all restrictions on outbound travel for vaccinated persons
- Extend travel bubble for unrestricted travel to new candidate countries (Singapore, Pacific)
D. Final phase
- Allow uncapped inbound arrivals for all vaccinated persons, without quarantine
- Allow uncapped arrivals of non-vaccinated travellers subject to pre-flight and on arrival testing
