PM Morrison added he was “not going to take risks with Australians’ lives” and added he would maintain a regime “that has so far avoided the loss of 30,000 lives”. 

The F-35, Super Hornet and Wedgetail are among the platforms to join 500 personnel in the Northern Territory for the month-long exercise.

Virgin Australia has backed CEO Jayne Hrdlicka’s comments suggesting a vaccinated Australia must accept some COVID cases and open its borders before mid-2022.

Greg Hunt's backing follows news that a passenger on Friday’s Indian repatriation flight tested positive before boarding but was unable to get hold of his result before taking off.