Visitors flout quarantine and rock up to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
THE head of a remote Central Australian Aboriginal corporation is concerned Victorians will still be able to travel into the NT if they quarantine, saying many other quarantiners had already been caught flouting the rules
Northern Territory
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THE head of a remote Central Australian Aboriginal corporation is concerned Victorians will still be able to travel into the NT if they quarantine because other people under quarantine have flouted the rules and travelled to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta national park.
Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation CEO Thalia Bohl-van den Boogaard said she was concerned people from hotspot areas could flout the rules in the areas around Uluru.
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“People are skipping their quarantine at the moment whether it’s intentionally or by accident and turning up at the park gates. That’s another risk and the borders aren’t even open yet,” she said.
“What they should do is shut the borders to people from Victoria full stop. I think it’s been proven that quarantine rules get broken and so that still leaves a risk.
“There’s been quite a few people that have turned up and thankfully they’ve been caught by park staff and they’ve been escorted back to Alice Spring.”
Ms Boogaard said members at the Aboriginal Corporation don’t want direct flights coming into Yulara and want the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park closed because the risk to nearby Aboriginal communities is too great.
“There shouldn’t be any direct flights to Yulrara. There’s no facilities in Yulara or Mutitjulu to quarantine people,” she said.
“I don’t think anything is foolproof and I think people are figuring this out. To be solely trusting on people to be honest and do the right thing, I don’t think you can do to that. People lie.”
So far, around 23,200 compliance checks have been completed in the Northern Teriroty and around 121 fines issued.
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Chief Minister Michael Gunner on Wednesday effectively banned all Victorians from coming to the NT when border measures ease on July 17.
All Victorians will go into mandatory quarantine at their own expense with the Territory to stay shut to the entire state.
From July 17, only people who come from or who have been in coronavirus hot spots will be forced into 14 days of quarantine if they travel into the NT.
The entirety of Victoria is now considered a hotspot by the NT.
Originally published as Visitors flout quarantine and rock up to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park