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We’ll stop flying if caps remain, warn international airlines

written by Adam Thorn | September 9, 2020

Qatar Airways Airbus A380 A7-APE at Sydney Airport. (Qatar Airways)
Qatar Airways Airbus A380 A7-APE at Sydney Airport. (Qatar Airways)

The industry body representing international airlines has warned its members will have no choice but to stop flying to Australia if arrival caps aren’t increased.

In a hardening of its position, the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (BARA) said on Wednesday afternoon that its members “cannot be expected” to “continue indefinitely with such flights on a commercial basis”.

“A target average of at least 100 passengers per arriving flight, while still difficult financially, is far better than 30 or less,” added BARA executive director Barry Abrams.

The organisation’s third statement in short succession comes days after it argued the government should allow flexibility on quarantine for those who arrive from areas with fewer COVID-19 cases. It has previously said it would take its members six months to return all citizens stranded abroad if the current cap system wasn’t relaxed.

The restrictions limiting the number of Australians who could fly home at any one time were first introduced in July to regulate the flow of people arriving into government quarantine facilities and have been extended multiple times. Critics have argued that decision has stopped Australians abroad being able to return home by reducing availability and increasing prices.

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BARA revealed that, during the first week of September, some 87 per cent of 30,000 seats on flights into Australia remained empty. It’s pushing for the cap to increase to a target average of 100 passengers a flight.

It has also pushed against flights landing at smaller airports.

“It’s clear Australians overseas seeking to return home need better help, and the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia considers the best way to do so is to increase the arrival caps into the major capital city airports,” said Abrams.

“Additional quarantine capacity for international flights at secondary international airports might not be commercially viable for airlines and hence not help Australians stranded overseas.

“BARA and the international airlines are unaware of any firm proposals to increase the number of Australians who can return home in a more orderly manner. International airlines remain willing to engage with governments if asked to do so in supporting better outcomes for Australians overseas.”

In its previous release to Australian Aviation, BARA argued the solution to the problem is to both increase capacity in hotels and allow flexibility on quarantine for those who arrive from areas with fewer COVID-19 cases.

“A transparent framework for assessing risk and how to reduce it would make conditions clearer and more certain for passengers and industry,” Abrams argued. “If risk mitigation options other than mandatory quarantine were acceptable for Australians returning from some countries, this would free up quarantine capacity for passengers returning from countries where COVID-19 risks are higher.”

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Comments (45)

  • Dave

    says:

    I think its totally logical to slowly start lifting the cap now. All states should have their quarantine requirements in order now. Don’t have to jump to 100 tomorrow but surely we can move in the right direction

  • Lisa Paddison

    says:

    Australians in Australia who test positive for Covid-19 are trusted to self-isolate at home for 14 days. Citizens returning from overseas who test negative for Covid-19 are forced to quarantine for 14 days in a locked hotel room, and to pay upwards of $3,000 for the privilege. 1-3% of new cases of Covid-19 in Australia are people who test positive in hotel quarantine. 97-99% of new cases are community transmission. There is a double standard here which is entirely illogical and completely unacceptable.

  • Lurch

    says:

    Why doesn’t the Government allow quarantining as Taiwan does ?
    You pay for a tracking bracelet ,which allows you to quarantine at home for those able to , otherwise you stay in the Government designated quarantine hotel.
    This thereby negates the arbitrary inbound passenger quota system based on available quarantine hotel rooms !

  • Wilson

    says:

    The Australian Gov need to act fast and efficient in the control of incoming passengers from abroad, quarantine at home it’s the first thing they have to implement, that will solve the airport caps to let more people in, and the airline will breathe….will be cheaper to engage inspectors to do home quarantine control….

  • Susan Sanders

    says:

    Very positive article I fully support airlines suggestions and thankful they are helping Aussies come home. The Australian govt have abandoned their own citizens, shame in them!!

  • Derek

    says:

    Very sad that a simple “want to go home” becomes a mission impossible task!! We just like other 23000 stranded overseas Australian registered in DFAT who want to go back so badly… but so challenging to secure flights now….

    If cap is an issue, why not put people in remote areas even some military training bases to increase quarantine capacity? Or even better like Taiwan, if test negative when arrival, enforce people to wear a tracking bracelet and do stay home quarantine (with significant fine if violated stay home quarantine rules)? There are definitely ways to increase cap but just depend if government really want to help us or not….. can someone help us?

  • Peter

    says:

    This is Australia. Nobody has the right to tell us what to do. Passengrs were warned not to travel.

    The airlines are only interested in their bottom line. Our health does not bother them.

  • Phillip Petterson

    says:

    Easy just let qantas and virgin be the only airlines allowed into Australia with passengers on board. Then quota into each airport would be on a few planes only, when world returns to normal all the airlines will come back, rushing for pur tourists business

  • Claire

    says:

    As one of the 25,000 Australians currently stranded abroad this makes me so anxious. My husband, 12 month old son and I have been living and working in Canada for four years, and are having to return home due to a redundancy in June.
    We are not “stragglers” of or “holiday makers” we are Australian Citizens who have been living an working abroad.
    How could these airlines possibly be expected to fly a 14hour long haul flight with only 30 passengers? Even 100 would be pushing it for them to cover their costs.
    The Australian government needs to lift these ridiculous caps and allow its citizens to get home so they can start contributing to the Australian economy.

  • Mike

    says:

    Caps should lifted, my wife and daughter have been trying to get into Australia since April.
    Since incoming residents/citizens are now having to pay for their two week quarantine I don’t see why more can’t be accepted.
    It seems that only rich Australians are currently allowed into the country, which is discrimination.

  • Dave

    says:

    As an Australian family of three stuck in Canada since our flights were cancelled (for the first time) on March 29th we’ve now had our flights cancelled for the fourth time with the earliest available flight now booked for December 18th. We live in WA and desperately want to come home. As other commenters and the article state, there are rational risk based approaches that could be taken to increase quarantine capacity without significantly increasing risk.

    We are coming from a very low risk part of Canada, we have a home in WA and would happily isolate ourselves. I’d happily wear a tracking collar. Increase testing, increase fines and increase caps.

    It is unbelievable that the Australian government are doing more to find practical ways to bring Australian citizens home in the midst of the current global instability. At this point it seems they are doing everything they can to thwart our attempts to get back to our own country.

  • Patrickk

    says:

    Lisa it only takes one to be a super spreader so 3% is a high figure. In India they stamp your wrist which is cheaper than tracking bracelet. The issue is managing visitors but random checks with massive fines may stop that

  • Shirley

    says:

    Sounds a sensible solution from the Airlines. Asking for a negative CV test prior to flying would decrease risk. Happy to quarantine on arrival whether in hotel or home. Am a Registered Nurse needing to get back to work.

  • Salaria

    says:

    Australians Government should lift the caps on incoming flights . More than 20000 Australians are stranded overseas who needed to come home .this is their right as a citizen to enter in their own country.

  • Bill Oreally

    says:

    Just ask big Kerry Stokes to cough up the dollars for extra entrance people. He has business so important that he can come and go as he pleases, so the clams he makes on this should go to his less pecunious fellow citizens. Come on Kerry, cough up. And you to Al Joyce, you make plenty of bank. Cough up.

  • Fraser

    says:

    These whinging airlines can go away, if they don’t like this Country’s rules.
    Their only concern is MONEY, as they can’t fill their planes’ with multiple 100’s of passengers’ paying EXORBITANT airfares’, thus helping their bottom line.
    They’re like vultures hovering around a carcass.
    Totally disgraceful!

  • Lizzie

    says:

    Airlines considering not flying to Oz completely understandable given the ridiculous quota of 30- 35 people a flight into Sydney. Much lower weekly numbers in WA, SA, and Qld further hampering the situation. And of course, the drastic quarantine scenario in Melbourne.
    Yet another obstacle on an already perilous, uncertain journey.
    Why isn’t the quarantine system across the country fit for purpose? Two months break with much lower numbers, gives the government the opportunity to allow more people back.
    Have written many times to our PM. Received today an impersonal and unhelpful response. “That’s why I told Australians to return March 17th”. Still not accepting responsibility for the mess! I have responded outlining the many reasons we didn’t/couldn’t heed his order.
    Labor, business and the tourism industry have all stated strong cases to the National Cabinet for the cap to be lifted and quarantine capacity to increase, to no avail.
    The Australian government doesn’t consider the voices of 23,000+ people important enough to take action that resolves this issue.

  • jdjg

    says:

    Lisa, we wouldn’t have any community transmission at all if travelers didn’t keep bringing it into the country.

    Travelers should pay for quarantine as they are the ones bringing it into the country.

  • Peter

    says:

    Yes I am another Australian who has been trying to get home since March from thailand.i have had 5 flights cancelled and now there are no direct flights from Thailand to Australia available there expect you to fly from Bangkok to Doha in the middle east and then back to Australia or Bangkok to South Africa then to Perth then Sydney this is ridiculous and a thousand times more likely to have a chance of catching the virus.then they expect us to pay for quarantine coming from a country that has about 1/10thbthr amount of virus that Australia has.the government need to open airport and let only citizens back in do they can resume there life in there birth country

  • Stuart Jordan

    says:

    I am sooo stuck overseas. Bumped so often I now have an open economy ticket as my only way of getting home to Victoria. I can’t cancel it in case I spend the money and then I will be totally stranded. Noooooooo idea how I could afford a hotel for 2 weeks if that silly rule still applies. No responses from Vic government as to their plans for us overseas. Not going to email or message them anymore. They either don’t know what to do for us or don’t care. I’ve truly began losing faith in their leadership.

    I could self quarentine at home? Just let me come home Dan Andrews you knob!

  • Mick

    says:

    It’s pathetic that a country like Australia would lock out its citizens because they can’t manage quarantine. Here’s how it works in HK where there are 1/10th the number of cases and for 8M people packed into a city….. when you arrive at the airport they test you and you wait 4-6 hours for the result. Positive you go to a government hotel, negative you go home for 14 days quarantine with a digital wristband tat monitors your location. You phone is also registered to track your location. You get test at the end of 14 days. Other advanced countries can do it, why can’t we.

  • Douglas

    says:

    Why can’t the Australian Government have Qantas have a one off special from various cities in the world, eg London, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Joberg to name a few. Have the planes organised for a date in October, to allow those citizens wanting to return to get to those cities. Gives them plenty of time and certainty. They could fly into different Australian Airports, to not overload one or two quarantine facilities. As a society, we need to be aware that aigh percentage of cases are still coming from overseas, so quarantine still needs to be paramount.

  • Grant

    says:

    Reading some of these comments I’m amazed so many are accepting the narrative unquestioningly that we need these these travel restrictions and “lockdowns”.
    According to the WHO 99% of cases are mild. The death rate in Australia is 0.0031%, statistically that’s a rounding error. Add to that the fact that 85% of deaths are people over 80 most in nursing homes and it seems we need to to spend our billions of dollars on protecting these people rather than on devastating the lives of countless millions on the say so of political demagogues and their well paid, politicised, “experts ” whose advise is refuted by non politicised experts brave enough to question the absurd government narrative and their even more absurd, and contradictory, rules.

  • Charles

    says:

    My Parents were bumped for the 5th time trying to get back home from the UK (all on QR and they don’t have status) Tickets now cost in excess of $8K and it’s been that way since the capacity was locked down into Australia so I don’t think it’s fair ti say that ‘people should already be home unless they are ignorant’ because there are lots of Australians overseas (esp in Europe) and the influx has not died down and the capacity caps have restricted the ability for Australians to return home so it is very hard to secure 1, let alone 2 flights home and if you live in a secondary city where there are limited to no flights available for the next couple of months (ADL, DRW, PER, CNS etc) and you have to go through Sydney or Melbourne (god forbid) then that is 4 weeks of quarantine (depending on the specific state border conditions ofc)

  • Philip

    says:

    More Australian Government “look how great we are” stupidity! If returning citizens are prepared to pay for 14 day hotel quarantine then wheres the problem?…already struggling hotels will welcome the business and the risk is controlled. Expecting Airlines to continue operating at a loss flying to Oz is just redicilious. Come on Scott Morrison
    wake up and be the leader we need right now!

  • John

    says:

    Like the others another Australian stranded overseas its extremely disappointing to see the incompetence of the australian government and indirectly refusing entry to Australian citizens

  • Azucena

    says:

    The situation is against all basic rights. There are many alternative options to keep track of international travellers as pointed out in previous comments; it’s not possible to justify these measures in good conscious, but through abuse of power from the government and lack of solidarity from the public. Unequal treatment of Australians at home and Australians overseas is plain discrimination and I am disturbed and alarmed by the silence of human rights’ community.

  • Olivia

    says:

    This is absolutely apalling thatAustralian government is capping flights to 30. No other government is doing so. My mums flight has been cancelled 5th time , each time we book flight it gets cancelled 1 day before to take first class last minute passengers. What has Australian government turned into ? Sad and disappointing that this is only happening here

  • liz whyte

    says:

    Agree with all the comments re test at airport and self quarantine with tracker if necessary. My son is trying to
    Come home from London as his father had a stroke and is waiting to start chemo but no airlines can do anything flight wise to increase capacity because we are tied to
    The arrival caps !
    Un Australian, such lack of care for our OWN citizens .
    Federation is a joke .

  • Philip

    says:

    I have never seen a Journalist ask the obvious question of the Politicians, or the bureaucratic expert Medical advice, who have not been on the working end of a stethoscope for many years.
    Why are you ignoring the fact that even though SarsCov 2 is quite infectious, it’s virulence is not that great. That being the case, why are you confining the 90%+ that will have mild symptoms, and doing such a poor job of protecting the extremely vulnerable. It seems to me, the Gov is happy to run up a massive debt due their pretty much ignorant approach to this issue.
    Allow the way less vulnerable out to assist in rebuilding our economy,
    The Taipei and Hong Kong approach seems so well thought out and informed. They will not suffer as we are from their way more intelligent and informed approach.
    Maybe the idea is that our country, along with many others, will in the future be beholding to the money lenders from NYC and Europe… Money will be leant by them of course, however, with many strings attached. We working people will be stung with ever increasing taxation for many years to come.
    Mushrooms…

  • Disgusted

    says:

    I am disgusted in this Government for turning their back on Australian citizens and those people that keep saying stop international arrivals. These are your mums, dads, brothers, sisters and other family members, not tourists. The ones advocating for this are the ones that clearly it doesn’t affect. There are people with compelling reasons to travel overseas right now for compassionate and family reasons and those that are still stuck since this debacle started. It’s time Australians pulled their f…. heads in and started looking after one another. Starting at the top of Government. Airlines are a business and they don’t just fly around for our convenience. It is not them price gouging it is the complete incompetence of the handling of this situation.

  • OC

    says:

    Absolutely disgraceful incompetence and heartlessness by the Federal and State Governments.

    Multiple countries around the world show how risk can be minimised and Australian citizens’ Constitutional right to enter their own damn country can be respected!

    All returnees should be tested BEFORE travelling. Only negative cases would be allowed to travel. All returnees would then be quarantined in airport or city hotels while they are tested yet again and their results returned (a matter of hours for competent laboratories). Those that are positive would remain in hotel quarantine (if in a low risk cohort) until recovered or be moved to hospital (if elderly or afflicted with the handful of co-morbidities that materially increase risk of complications/death).

    Everybody else would have a GPS tracking bracelet attached to them and sent home by police in PPE to serve 14 days in home isolation. Their mobile details would be taken and they would be video called on regular occasions to prove they are still home. They would be tested again at day 7 and day 14 and only allowed out into the community if both are negative. If they don’t co-operate they would be immediately returned to mandatory quarantine. Anybody with half a brain would also see that this should be applied to ALL people who test positive in the community rather than the ludicrous ‘trust’ system we have now.

    There are countless people who could not just return when the call was put out there. Some were expatriates working and living overseas who have since lost their jobs. Others were stuck in extensive lockdowns in the countries they were visiting / staying in and were unable to get on a commercial flight.

    Regardless of the reason the High Court has found that Australian Citizens right to enter the country Australian citizen to enter the country is not qualified by any law imposing a need to obtain a licence or ‘clearance’ from the executive. The public health orders that are restricting entry are clearly NOT proportionate to the risk of COVID-19 spread given multiple other countries have found ways to have their citizens return at will without sparking massive COVID-19 outbreaks (China, Taiwan , Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong etc etc the list is a VERY long one).

  • Robyn

    says:

    The government needs to start listening and implement measures such as tracking bracelets for passengers to quarantine at home thereby freeing up quarantine in hotels and associated cost. The quarantine excuse will then be dismissed and no reason to not increase passengers per flight . Disgusting behaviour so far from a government who has once again turned their backs on Australians and ignored their pleas for help to get home. How anyone can think this is okay is disgraceful. Time is up let Australians home!

  • Linda Weaving

    says:

    Stuff foreign airlines! We don’t need them bringing more Covid in anyway!
    If people have been ‘stranded overseas’ & it’s so crucial they return, they’ve had since MARCH to do so! Hotel quarantine was FREE until just recently. The reason it was instated was because people arriving from overseas by plane are the biggest source & pose the highest risk of infections but many did not obey quarantine rules. It happened repeatedly, thus allowing Covid to spread widely around the country. The reason incoming numbers have to be capped is that not only do air travellers bring in more Covid EVERY WEEK, there are only so many places available for them.
    Finally, air travel is NOT a human right!
    We have been very fortunate that our governments have listened to health experts rather than business interests or our situation could have been like the USA, Brazil or India where hundreds of thousands have DIED!

  • Andy

    says:

    I think the question Jornos ought to be asking the Federal Government is why they are allowing hundreds of overseas ship’s crew into Australia every week and using up Quarantine space that should be reserved for Australians and its residents. Thousands of visas are being issued daily to companies to swap their crews in Australia and these overseas companies can easily afford $8k business and $21k First class therefore making it highly unaffordable for families to fly back home. Normal economy class is already higher than 43k. This is one of the major reasons why these caps are unworkable and should be allocated with to Australians and residents returning home.
    In WA hundreds are arriving every week whilst families are struggling to come back home and there will be no availability for ordinary citizens to fly as long as this caps are in place.
    I understand ship’s crew need to go home also however they have other options at other ports(counrties) while Australians are just trying to come home.
    A FOI will reveal the actual numbers of visas issued in the last couple of months for ship’s crew coming to Australia and in WA most especially.

  • Melissa

    says:

    Linda,
    Entry to your country of citizenship is a human right. The Australian government are manipulating the airlines with arrival caps because they actually can’t deny entry of Australian citizens. If this pandemic has not caused you to pause and consider the safety of all Australian citizens from the comfort of your home in Australia then I am far more afraid of you than I am afraid of anyone returning to Australia from overseas.

  • Paul Robson

    says:

    Firstly….if the airlines don’t find it economic to fly at the current exorbitant rates they are charging….then don’t fly!
    However our govt has doing nothing to help!
    How are they allowing these airlines to cancel passengers economy class tickets…..because they have resold their seats as business?
    Australia can learn a lot from how Taiwan has handled covid…25 million people…..7 deaths…around 489 cases….no lockdown!
    Masks mandatory in public from day one!
    To get more Australians home we should adopt their personal tracker idea, and also advice any returning traveller who is found to have breached quarantine….their passport suspended for 5 years.
    As travellers, that should keep them focused on doing the right thing with self quarantine!

  • Paul Robson

    says:

    Firstly….if the airlines don’t find it economic to fly at the current exorbitant rates they are charging….then don’t fly!
    However our govt has doing nothing to help!
    How are they allowing these airlines to cancel passengers economy class tickets…..because they have resold their seats as business class!
    To get more Australians home we should adopt their personal tracker idea, and also advice any returning traveller who is found to have breached quarantine….their passport suspended for 5 years.
    As travellers, that should keep them focused on doing the right thing with self quarantine!

  • Mustafa

    says:

    Since march I did not see my wife and I can not take a flight with 6000$ cost ! Is so hard to me All these cause of your arrival board did not accept more than 30 passenger so the airlines open the bussiness class with high cost . I think if you increse the number of hotel and find another places to accupy all passenger its also good for you its 3000$ with theses day consider good and you will produce more jobs

  • Archie

    says:

    Why is it only 30 people per aircraft? Can it be because they all have to be 1.5 metres apart? If so, what happened to the earlier advice (when covid was still relatively new) that ALL PLANES have this unbelievable terrific air flow that would not be able to conduct the spread of virus. They continually denied people saying they caught the ‘flu/colds’ from air during their flight. Why no retraction that maybe they were wrong? As stated above, test people BEFORE FLIGHT. Would reduce the likelihood of danger on the flight, but still quarantine when in oz.

  • Ros

    says:

    The increase in hotel quarantine for returning expats rose by 2,000. What a joke!
    . Averages out to 5 persons on an aircraft. (Which means aircraft now flying at approx 85% capacity!) Since when does a government expect a company to bankrupt themselves because of their draconian policies?
    . Some routes have cancelled all flights to Australia – eg Malaysia. Not so for the Philippines. They chartered a plane to get their nationals home. A third world country with high covid can do the right thing and look after their citizens!!!
    . Next time you want a laugh read the blurb at the front of your passport.
    . Hotel quarantine increase useless unless you increase flights and capacity on those flights from overseas destinations and RAISE THE CAP!
    I am not an expat stuck overseas, but the sad, anxious and heartbroken mother of two,(Australian born and educated). I don’t blame the airlines. I blame the Australian government. Absolutely appalling. For the first time in my 70 years I am ASHAMED TO BE AUSTRALIAN!!!

  • Lee Williams

    says:

    We too are stranded and have had five flights cancelled. It is inconceivable to us that our own government is preventing us from returning to our country. Scott Morrison has lost our vote and confidence.
    There is no lateral thinking happening in either state, or particularly federal government.
    Look to other countries and learn …… have passengers present a negative PCR co-vid test before they fly ( as many countries are doing.)
    Set up testing for passengers at the airport upon arrival, it is happening in countries around the world. Negative result, you are free to go and home isolate, positive, you go to hotel quarantine.
    This is much more cost effective than hotel quarantine for everyone, and much less disruptive to returning travellers lives.
    The average infection rate of International passengers returning to Australia is about thirty per week, Australia wide.
    Currently, thousands of passengers are being needlessly and ‘forcibly’ locked up, at great cost and inconvenience.
    OR:
    Let people home isolate with a further test at day five, if again negative, they are free to leave home isolation.
    Let Qantas and Virgin get back in the air flying internationally, with full flights at normal fares.

    If you can’t let Australians come back when there is NO infections in any state except Victoria, when ARE you going to let them return ??

    What is the forward plan, where is the lateral thinking, where is the WILL to solve this urgent problem ?

  • Ian R

    says:

    Lee, the government is sympathetic to the plight of OS Australians. However, the first responsibility is to protect those in Australia. What is quite clear is the debacle of OS Australian’s quarantining in Melbourne Hotels has led to a horrendous surge in infections and the consequent lockdowns, economic carnage, and deaths. Not your fault, I agree. But a signal lesson to both State and Federal Governments that quarantining of returning travellors is a very serious business.. Community infection in Australia is small, but infection rates in returning Australians continues to be significant. So, hotel quarantining (or some other point of controlled isolation) is essential for the time being. Home isolation is not an option. It is far too easily breached. In regard to the airlines, basically I think they are between a rock and a hard place. Trying to accommodate small passenger loads obviously does lead to price inflation – they are not charities. In March the PM warned OS Australians to return sooner than later. It was appreciated not all could do that instantly and for some months free hotel quarantine was provided. The government has asked the states to increase quarantine accommodation, and this is happening. This is the current situation: Queensland and Western Australia will adopt a two-stage increase in their international passenger arrival caps over the next three weeks that will see an additional 500 Australians returning through each jurisdiction each week. Queensland will commence with an additional 200 passengers from Monday 28 September 2020, increasing to 500 passengers from Monday 5 October 2020. Western Australia will commence with an additional 200 passengers from Monday 28 September, increasing to 500 passengers from Monday 12 October 2020. For example in my state we have increased the arrival rate to around 500 a week. Not sure what more the states can do other than increase the rate, which they are doing. Given the recent surge of COVID in the UK and US and India, we also need to pause a moment and think of the danger flight crews face.

  • J

    says:

    My dad is stuck overseas due to the ridiculous 50 person cap per flight and has been cancelled a few times now. Im really worried as my dad has a medical condition and is almost out of medications which he urgently needs back in Australia however he can’t return as he is constantly cancelled and he can’t afford $10 000 business class seats whom the airlines are only letting on. This is disgraceful and the Australian government is advising Australians stuck overseas to go to homeless shelters. What the hell is that?

  • Jerry Katz

    says:

    The cap is farcical and inhumane, what’s wrong with the Australian Government? They are effectively locking out Australian citizens and residents, no other comparable democracy is doing this. Scrap the cap, and introduce electronic monitoring, so people can self isolate, no need for this ridiculous hotel quarantine. You can’t blame the airlines for not flying , it’s just not viable. I’m in the UK, and have been apart from my wife for 6 months now, she can’t get here because of the ridiculous ban on leaving Australia, and I can’t get a flight to Australia. The Australian Government’s stance is over the top, and causing havoc to so many lives.

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