It doesn't matter one iota
what the arrivals cap is, when you have
more people leaving than are coming home! I highly doubt that all those departing passengers will
stay gone, so at some point, they will themselves want to run the gauntlet of the arrivals system. The whole "26,000 citizens to come home by Christmas" or whatever figure they give on any particular day is meaningless if they don't stop people leaving who will want to come home at some point, meaning the cycle is an endless loop.
The simple solution is to stop all international passenger arrivals. No if's, buts or maybes. IT's not exactly a politically acceptable response, but if we want Australia to reopen, it isn't going to happen while we still have hotel quarantine in place.
If it got out once, you could say its' bad luck. Twice is bad management. Multiple times across multiple states, then they aren't
all incompetent. I just wish it would have happened in WA!
Originally Posted by The ABC
About twice as many people are still flying out of Australia despite COVID-19 travel restrictions, compared to the number of passengers who are managing to secure flights back home.
An ABC analysis of the latest government data reveals that in 2020, outbound passenger movements continued to outpace arrivals, in some months by a factor of three to one. It is unclear how many of the departing passengers held Australian passports, but it is feared more pressure will be placed on hotel quarantine arrangements when some eventually decide to return.
Almost 40,000 Australians stranded overseas have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as wanting to come home but have so far been unable to secure return flights. "The list is growing with more and more Australians leaving the country," warned Australian Airports Association CEO James Goodwin. "Three people are leaving for every one person returning and that is putting added pressure on the hotel quarantine system and for all those other stranded Australians who are desperate to come home."
Since March 25 last year, Australians have been banned from leaving the country unless they receive a formal exemption from the Australian Border Force Commissioner for reasons such as compassionate grounds. On March 20, the Federal Government also banned people who were not citizens or permanent residents from being allowed to enter Australia unless they met limited travel exemptions.
According to figures produced by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, more than
46,000 people flew out of Australia in August last year, while just over 15,000 arrived.
A similar three-to-one ratio of outgoing passengers compared to incoming passengers was recorded in September, while in October departures almost doubled the number of arrivals into Australia. In April, the month immediately after the international travel ban was announced, 53,000 passengers flew out of Australia compared to just over 16,000 who arrived here.
Mr Goodwin said the Federal Government should now consider using military aircraft and bases to help repatriate and quarantine the thousands of citizens who remain stranded overseas.
Source