BORDER SECURITY – AUSTRALIA

No stopping boats if you stop looking

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 30-Jul-24

New data has raised concern about Australia’s ability to detect illegal maritime arrivals. US-based Leidos is required to undertake 15,000 hours of aerial surveillance each year under its Operation Sovereign Borders contract. However, the defence company’s total flight time in 2022-23 was just 12,691 hours, which is 20.7 per cent lower than the previous year. The Senate was recently told that this had fallen by a further two per cent in the first 11 months of 2023-24. The Coalition contends that addressing the decline in aerial surveillance and maritime patrols should be a priority for new Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.

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LEIDOS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

No lockdowns or border bans over Omicron

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Original article by Simon Benson, Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 5 : 1-Dec-21

State and territory leaders have ruled out lockdowns and domestic border closures in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A meeting of the national cabinet on Tuesday agreed to press ahead with the roadmap for reopening the remaining state borders, and backed the federal government’s decision to delay reopening the nation’s international borders to eligible visa holders by two weeks. Any returned travellers who have visited one of nine southern African countries that of concern will be required to go into hotel quarantine for 14 days, while other international arrivals must self-isolate at home for 72 hours. There are six confirmed cases of the Omicron strain in Australia; they are all said to either have mild symptoms or are ­asymptomatic.

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Home quarantine should be widespread once vaccination target is hit, PM says

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Original article by David Crowe, Rachel Clun
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 1-Sep-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is continuing to urge the states and territories to support the national plan for reopening the economy when the COVID-19 vaccination target has been reached. He contends that Australians who are returning from overseas should be allowed to quarantine at home rather than in a hotel once 70-80 per cent of eligible adults have been vaccinated. However, he has conceded that internal border closures are a matter for the states; Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is maintaining a tough stance on border closures.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET

Empty flights cast an air of doom

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 4 : 7-Jul-21

The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia’s executive director Barry Abrams has warned that the nation’s coronavirus-induced lower caps on inbound passenger numbers means that some international flights to Australia will no longer be commercially viable. Two-thirds of flights into Sydney will be restricted to no more than 26 passengers, while no passengers will be permitted on the remainder. Likewise, most flights into Melbourne will be restricted to a maximum of 13 passengers. The impact of reduced passengers loads may be partially offset by strong demand for air freight.

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BOARD OF AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVES OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

International airlines may be forced to suspend flights to Australia after arrival cap halved

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Original article by Matilda Boseley, Royce Kurmelovs
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 5-Jul-21

National cabinet recently agreed to reduce the number of international arrivals from 6,070 to 3,035 a week, with the cuts to take effect as from 14 July. Board of Airline Representatives executive director Barry Abrams says the cuts will make it hard for international airlines to maintain their current frequency of flights to Australia, while he has rejected suggestions airlines are trying to take advantage of the cut in arrivals by price gouging.

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BOARD OF AIRLINE REPRESENTATIVES OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Queensland and Victoria push to slash number of international arrivals in Australia

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Original article by Yara Murray-Atfield
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 30-Jun-21

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has called for a "massive reduction" in the number of international travellers who are allowed into Australia in the wake of the latest wave of COVID-19 lockdowns across the country. Palaszczuk adds that international travellers should be quarantined in dedicated facilities such as Howard Springs in the Northern Territory, rather than hotels. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews also supports a big reduction in overseas arrivals, contending that it is preferable to locking down entire cities or states if the coronavirus leaks from the hotel quarantine system. More than 35,000 Australians remain stranded overseas, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

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QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Two states on high alert after infected case fled Melbourne lockdown

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Original article by Lydia Lynch
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Jun-21

Health authorities in New South Wales and Queensland are trying to identify all close contacts of a Melbourne couple who travelled interstate on 1 June, three days after Victoria’s latest COVID-19 lockdown began. The 44-year-old woman subsequently tested positive on 8 June, although her partner has tested negative so far. The couple stopped in four towns in regional NSW before arriving in Queensland on 5 June; they visited family members on the Sunshine Coast on the following day. Queensland’s chief health officer Jeannette Young says the woman may have been infectious while travelling through NSW; she adds that it is too soon to consider whether parts of southeast Queensland should go into lockdown.

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QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Vaccine passports risk a two-class country

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-May-21

Business leaders have questioned the merits of the federal government’s proposed ‘vaccine passport’ system for domestic travellers. It would allow fully vaccinated people to travel interstate and return without being subject to COVID-19 restrictions. Restaurant & Catering CEO Wes Lambert says it would be "very cumbersome" and create more red tape; he adds that it might also create two classes of Australians, based on their vaccination status. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and New South Wales counterpart Gladys Berejiklian both oppose the scheme. Meanwhile, five new COVID-19 cases have been reported in hotel quarantine nationwide in the last 24 hours.

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RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF THE PREMIER AND CABINET, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Australian Open could be forced offshore due to coronavirus border closure

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Original article by Catherine Murphy
abc.net au – Page: Online : 17-May-21

Tennis players are said to be unwilling to go through two weeks of hotel quarantine again before the Australian Open if the nation’s international borders remain closed until mid-2022. It is believed that Tennis Australia is prepared to move the 2022 Australian Open to Doha or Dubai if it and the federal government cannot come to an agreement on less rigid quarantine arrangements. Melbourne’s Formula One grand prix will also need quarantine arrangements to be eased if it is to go ahead in November, after it was switched from March.

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TENNIS AUSTRALIA

Call for medevac-style repatriation flights for Australians with Covid from India

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Original article by Calla Wahlquist
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 17-May-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended the federal government’s policy on repatriating Australian citizens and permanent residents in India. The first repatriation flight arrived in Darwin on 15 May, with just 80 returned travellers aboard; they are now at the Howard Springs quarantine facility. Another 42 people who tested positive for COVID-19 and 30 close contacts were barred from the flight. Morrison says it does not make sense to import COVID-19 into Australia by allowing people who have tested positive to board repatriation flights. However, epidemiologist Catherine Bennett contends that vulnerable Australians abroad who have the coronavirus should be treated as medical evacuees rather than returned travellers. Some of the people who were barred from the flight have since tested negative.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY