State Premier Dominic Perrottet announced that vaccinated
travelers who tested negative to COVID-19 before flying to Sydney would be
spared 14 days in hotel quarantine from Nov. 1.
The major relaxation of the state’s pandemic restrictions,
which makes entering Australia easier for travelers, was announced four days
after Sydney came out of a 106-day lockdown.
“We can’t live here in a hermit kingdom. We’ve got to open
up and this decision today is a big one, but it is the right one to get New
South Wales connected globally,” Perrottet said.
“It’s going to be great for our tourism industry, it’s going
to be great for tourist operators,” he added.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has yet to say when tourists
will be welcomed back to Australia, but has ruled out this year.
Australian permanent residents and citizens will be free to
travel next month for the first time since the nation’s border was closed in
March last year by some of the toughest travel restrictions in the democratic
world. Skilled migrants and students would be given priority in coming to
Australia over international tourists.
Morrison said on Friday that parents of Australians would be
reclassified as immediate family, enabling foreign nationals to visit
grandchildren born in Australia during the pandemic.
Grandparents previously had to wait until tourists were
allowed back to reunite with families. But restrictions on foreigners entering
Australia would otherwise not change, Morrison said.
Qantas Airways responded to the news by bringing forward
scheduled international flights by two weeks to Nov. 1. The first flights will
operate between Sydney and Los Angeles and Sydney and London.
Limits on hotel rooms available for quarantine have been a
major barrier for Australians who want to come home.
It is unclear whether returning Australians will be able to
avoid hotel quarantine in other states by landing in Sydney then catching
domestic flights across state lines.
The government of Victoria state, which has overtaken
neighboring New South Wales as Australia’s COVID-19 hotspot, is keen to see
details of the quarantine changes.
Peppered by journalists’ questions about the two states’
conflicting quarantine policies, Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley replied:
“Everyone just needs to take a chill pill.”
“We are not aware of the full details of a media release hot
off the printer from the New South Wales government,” Foley said.
Queensland state, which has remained virtually free of
COVID-19 throughout the pandemic through tight state border controls, has
hinted it would open to vaccinated interstate travelers by Christmas.
“There’s just been an enormous change this morning that I
haven’t been able to get my head around so I need to work out what that change
means,” Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said.
Health professionals have accused Perrottet of putting economic
priorities ahead of health since he replaced his predecessor Gladys Berejiklian
last week.
But Australian Tourism Export Council, which represents the
nation’s tourism export sector, welcomed the end of hotel quarantine.
“Australia’s tourism industry has borne the brunt of
international border closures with many businesses suffering with no income
since March 2020,” the council’s managing director Peter Shelley said.
“This announcement not only gives tourism businesses their
income back, but also lets the world know they are welcome back in Australia,”
he added.
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