Only a week ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that all fully vaccinated international arrivals would no longer need to quarantine from 1 December – a move that was cheered by the edu-migration and business lobbies:
All students stuck overseas should know that the Australian PM’s statement today includes all countries! For Japan and Korea it includes tourists as well. But if you have a student visa, or are applying for one to Australia, then the borders are open to every country from 1st Dec
— Phil Honeywood (@PhilHoneywood) November 22, 2021
The Morrison Government also spruiked that at least 200,000 migrants would arrive into Australia by July 2022.
Now those plans have hit a snag thanks to the arrival of the Omicron coronavirus strain.
Australia’s national security committee met behind closed doors yesterday afternoon to look at whether Australia can reopen to double-dosed visa holders, skilled workers and international students from tomorrow as scheduled. Following deliberations, Prime Minister Scott Morrison delayed Australia’s international border opening by two weeks until 15 December:
Scott Morrison’s decision to impose a pause on travel to Australia for more than 200,000 visa holders – which was due to restart on Wednesday – was made after an assessment of updated health advice to a meeting of the national security committee of cabinet on Monday night.
The two-week pause will also be applied to the proposed travel bubble for South Korea and Japan. The existing travel bubble arrangements for New Zealand and Singapore will remain unchanged.
Australians returning from non-risk countries will not be affected by this decision but will remain bound by NSW and Victorian rules requiring self-isolation for 72 hours on arrival…
“On the basis of medical advice provided by the chief medical officer of Australia, Professor Paul Kelly, the national security committee has taken the necessary and temporary decision to pause the next step to safely reopen Australia to international skilled and student cohorts, as well as humanitarian, working holiday maker and provisional family visa holders from 1 December until 15 December,” said a statement released after the meeting of NSC…
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he was working closely with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, with both states currently requiring no quarantine for overseas travellers, and would take a “precautionary approach” in coming days.
Federal, state and territory leaders are also scheduled to meet today to consider Australia’s response.
Already former Labor leader Bill Shorten has called on the Morrison Government to mandate stronger quarantine arrangements for all international arrivals:
Bill Shorten said the Omicron strain highlighted the need for an effective quarantine system.
“I don’t think that 72 hours is enough. And if we don’t want to have more severe restrictions, then quarantine is our front-line of defence,” he told ABC TV.
However, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud pushed back:
“We are going to have to open up and we’re going to have to learn to live with this and the variants that will come,” he told the Nine Network.
My view is that policy makers should err on the side of caution by delaying international arrivals and/or introducing mandatory 14-day quarantine until the science is settled about Omicron. While this will undoubtedly upset the business and edu-migration lobbies – as it did when the international border was first shut last year – the fact remains that there are too many uncertainties to be blasé.
Australians have sacrificed too much over the past 20 months to risk throwing it away.
