I don't think that there was any suggestion that military personnel had to be deployed to Curtin, only that the facility could be used because;

• 10,000 ft runway
• reasonably secure in that location would deter absconders
• the facility previously operated as Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre
• the base was supposed to get a $100m ++ upgrade in the last few years
• if you're going to spend that sort of money then you may as well use it for something

I think the cost to set up temporary accommodation, CIQ and medical facilities on those remote bases would be far less than the constant losses of billions out of the economy that occur as a result of these capital city hotel outbreaks and the subsequent lockdowns and restrictions.

This was mooted in NZ as well and turned down. I believe that the bureaucrats don't like using the plebs' ideas.

However why should those servicemen on base be subjected to the possibility that they may be infected?

Have things changed, or is it still the case that pretty much every one of those thousands of rooms doesn’t have its own bathroom or toilet? I’m not sure that shared facilities are really what you’d want when quarantining for a highly infectious disease.

The fact that most people live off (and have done for a couple of decades or more) is why there are no longer ‘thousands’ of empty rooms on bases. Many of those facilities have either been demolished or are not in a state where they can be easily converted to quarantine facilities. Think shared ablution facilities (not a great thing when trying to quarantine people), difficulties arranging for meals to be delivered to rooms, transport and logistics issues transporting people to/from capital city airports, lack of suitable mass laundry facilities, security issues on the ADF bases, etc.

Some bases may be able to handle some people but on aggregate across the nation not on the scale you’re suggesting.

I presume they’re doing their day jobs?

I don't know of one accommodation block that has been demolished on any active base in the last 20 years.

As for infantry and artillery doing their day jobs, are we off fighting any conflicts at the moment? No, most military people are training all the time which is what they do when not overseas. As none of our military (apart from navy) is going anywhere anytime soon, maybe they can be utilized somewhere else?

I will admit most military accommodation is pretty basic but hardly any still have shared bathrooms and wouldn't require much to get up to standard.

Friends of mine who finally got home after having numerous flights cancelled, said they would have done quarantine in a tent if that was what's required.

I mean how many ADF personnel are already used in HQ, hundreds? Thousands?

In terms of "Facilities", The private sector is able to build camps to service thousand of FIFO workers living in remote places, including their own airport in many cases! Yet gov cant set up some idle RAAF bases...

Another "Celebrity" found absent from her multi million dollar property in country NSW after flying in from LA...these people could really do with two weeks in a donga....

There were two reasons that the NZ proposal to put returnees in Covid Isolation / Quarantine at a military base was turned down:

1. It would put the thirty-two hotels being used at the moment out of business, and throw all their thousands of staff onto the unemployment benefit, both factors costing the government a big pile of money. There are no international travellers to fill up these hotels.
2. There is no space in the NZDF's facilities to accommodate thousands of returnees. The NZDF two years ago started on a ten-year two-billion-dollar programme to bring its facilities up to the state where it is reasonable to ask 2020s soldiers to live in them. The vast majority of the barracks were built forty or more years ago and are frankly crappy - I was at a meeting where the then CDF said "I would dearly love to drive a bulldozer through every building in Linton [Army Camp] and start from scratch, but we don't have the budget". One senior politician suggested the NZDF should build a suitable facility at RNZAF Base Ohakea, where there is some 'spare' land. It would need not just accommodation, but medical facilities, more accommodation for the staff, a major upgrade to the base power supply grid and a whole new sewage treatment and disposal system for a small town of four or five thousand people. If it was done at stampede pace with no consideration of costs, it would take at least two to three years.

So, yes the proposals in NZ were rejected, but for totally good reasons

It would probably be quicker and more efficient for the private sector to set it up temporary remote quarantine. I guess the reason some were suggesting RAAF bare bases is they have the infrastructure to accomodate direct long haul flights but are almost unoccupied, there’s a lot of mining camps that could perform the same function but they’re quite busy at the moment and requisitioning one for quarantine would cause a lot of disruption to the industry.

All of you legal Eagles (don't give up your day job) do realise that any of those laws you are quoting about not being able to deny entry to a citizen blah blah DO NOT APPLY IN A PANDEMIC??

Pretty much every accomodation building (O’s, snakes and airman) got knocked down at Edinburgh when 7RAR moved in.

Trump was a business man. You need to go and howl at the moon, ye rocket.

The European airlines couldn't compete with the Asian and ME hub airlines which could offer most Australian cities, to most major and many secondary cities in Europe with one stop at a hub which gave them a low operating cost.

If the hub airlines can't make it work at the moment then it's unlikely anyone can.

Well it actually hasn’t been tested, so nobody knows for sure, not even you.

Ha what? Sending them off to Iraq to get shot is all good but defending the country from a virus is a little too hairy?

What ever happened to the six pax flights, a week, Emirates cancelled to Australian east coast?

That's right. No one cares!

Not to mention;

RAAF Williams Building 111 (Female Accommodation Block-approx.1000 sqm);
* Building 39 (Sergeants Mess / Accom.Building-approx 1800 sqm);
* Building 54 (Small Boiler Room Building associated with Building 39); and
* Building 44 (Weatherboard vehicle garages-of some Heritage significance and will be surveyed and photographed by others prior to demolition.).

The following listed buildings represent the demolition scope for Maygar Barracks:

Buildings: 16, 17, 18, 202, 215, 400, 415, 417, 461, 499, 598, 600, 733, 736, 753, 754, 755, 756, 757, and 758. Most are single and double storey Accommodation buildings, some small outbuildings are included.

Did anyone else read about and see the temporary Quarantine Singapore put up at the start of the pandemic? Thousands of beds at in the expo, then thousands in massive white tents both at expo and also at the cruise ship wharves. Plus all of the logistical equipment to go with it.

And...... it worked. No it was not 5 star.

More to the point in Aus as previously suggested is that this IS saving a large portion of hotels.

Anything can be done if it needs to be done.

However not when leaders cannot make decisions.

There's been quite a few demolished as previously mentioned and those that remain are generally shared ablutions. Also there are still quite a few people that live on base, especially army personnel.

It's a slippery slope to suggest utilising military personnel because they are just 'training.' What are they training for? Their primary roles for one. A lot of job profiles require a high level of proficiency that deteriorates significantly. There have been and still are a large number of personnel assigned to covid tasking. It would lead to a significant gap in capability that is not easily rectified if too many people are taken away from their primary roles. It's not the simple and consequence free solution you make it out to be.

There are still overseas ops occuring, you just may not be aware of them.

Also a major saving part of the business of those few airlines flying capped pax numbers into Aus is carrying decent numbers out on the return trip, plus a belly full of freight. If they have to arrive at a deserted location to drop off those arriving pax, where do the outbound pax and freight come from? If you expect them to then continue on to their original destination empty...?
If the solution is to expect outbound pax to all fly domestically to that same isolated airfield to await their outward connection, you have another problem of dealing with those passengers as well.

My argument has always been shouldn't be up to airlines. The incoming for quarantine should be coming in on charter planes, people should be going through in blocks everyone starts the quarantine at the same time everyone ends at same time, cleaning / maintainance gets done, possibly new shift of staff come in and when everything is ready new passengers come

Annnnnnnd they are back ....

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-...ralia/13080484

So they were trying to call Aus bluff thinking they would offer them cash to keep operating here and beg them to stay. Haha is all I say what will happen to all the additional work QF got out of this!

From the above article regarding ek crew.
With the latest adjustments, these tests will be administered in their homes, and our crew will also observe self-quarantine in their homes from the moment of testing until their flight."

Still doesn’t come within a bulls roar of what Qantas crew have to do to manage and meet Australian state and federal requirements.
Here’s some examples from Queensland requirements......

Domestic crew who​ in​ the​ last​ 14​ days​ have travelled​ on a domestic​ flight​ with international​ ​air​ crew​ who have​ been overseas​ in​ the last​ 14​ days​ must​ quarantine​ on​ arrival​ to​ ​Queensland.​ ​
​
Queensland​ resident​ international​ crew​ must​ quarantine at their​ home residence until:​ ​
o​ ​ their next​ international work​ trip which departs from​ the​ port where they​ are ​
quarantining​ and does not require​ interstate​ travel prior to​ commencing; or​ ​
o​ ​ until​ 14​ days​ have​ passed from their​ date​ of arrival in Queensland, whichever is ​
shorter.​ ​

so I do feel for the crew who landed in Melbourne, went to the government hotel for 5 days and then got a freighter to their home base and were met by qld officials who said welcome, have another 14 days of house arrest.

For ek to whinge about their complexities of operating to Australia, nah sorry, the home team has a far more arduous issue to deal with.

Not to mention a PCR test every 7 days whilst in Quarantine. I’ve had that many tests my nose bleeds.

looks like they tried to get away with it Scott free.

Whilst this is an aviation forum, I could not let this go -

Mate - I do not know where you have been living; however, most if not every major Base in Australia has undergone redevelopment over the past few years and nearly every one of those accommodation blocks you mention have been demolished. What 'transit blocks' remain do indeed have shared ablutions which would go down a treat don't you think! As for the ADF (it is more than just Infantry and Artillery you know) are now under warning to deploy in support during the current High Risk Weather Season leaving minimal feet on the ground to undertake any other duties. Let me speak to anyone who is willing to spend 14 days in a canvas tent with minimal amenities during mid/high thirties and above temps.

What a dimwit :rolleyes:

OK chum, what are babbling on about? Which part of "no odds to me" suggests I want rescuing from anything? Pure nonsense and kindly don't twist my words to misrepresent them.

By the way, the person who it would be odds to is back in intensive care, in an induced coma. But that is off shore, so doesn't show up in the government stats, which reassure unenquiring minds everything is great.

Can we not get back to the title of the thread. If you want to rant and rave over what QF and the Government should and should not be doing with Expats, suggest you migrate over to Facebook and Twitter etc to feed your need.

Well EK flights are back on so thread closed!

Great response.

And that gets no one in in any numbers. I thought we were trying to keep the industry going? Who pays for the charters? At the moment, various airlines are assuming almost all of the costs.