Queensland government to allow international students to return from 2022

Announcing the return of international students to Queensland, the Tourism Minister has revealed how the controversial Wellcamp quarantine facility will remain useful post-pandemic.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe says the Wellcamp quarantine facility near Toowoomba will be used well into the future, warning that a deadly coronavirus variant or a new superbug could be around the corner.

Discussing plans to welcome back international students early next year, Mr Hinchliffe denied the requirement for quarantine was an admission Queensland was unlikely to hit its 90 per cent vaccination target anytime soon.

He said that once the state did hit 90 per cent of its population fully vaccinated, the Government would revisit its requirement for international students to quarantine, but pointed out that the road map related to returning Australians not international citizens.

“When we are at 90 per cent, that is a matter we will have to contemplate,” he said.

The State Government has been criticised for going it alone with the Wellcamp facility, while the Federal Government is planning a hub near Brisbane Airport at Pinkenba.

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today. Picture: John Gass

But Mr Hinchliffe said Wellcamp would be used for a variety of reasons in the future, including a new virus.

“We don’t know if there is another variant around the corner,” he said

“There could be another virus completely, there are all sorts of reasons why having the... capability of a facility that can be stood up and used for quarantine in purposes... is sensible.”

Students who were already enrolled at universities around the state and those studying medicine or allied health will be given priority entry to back up the state’s struggling workforce.

The plan is to eventually allow students from around 160 countries back in, with 250 students able to fly every two weeks.

Mr Hinchliffe rebuffed claims from federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan that Queensland should join NSW and Victoria in allowing fully vaccinated returning Australians to enter without the need to quarantine at 80 per cent.

“Our road map is clear that at 90 per cent we will contemplate those sorts of things,” he said

The site of the planned Wellcamp quarantine hub

Earlier, it was revealed international medical students would be the first permitted back into Queensland to study, under an arrival plan submitted to the Commonwealth Government.

Mr Hinchliffe said the state had submitted its student arrival plan to the Federal Government, and revealed those studying medicine, medical research or allied health would be prioritised for entry to “back up” Queensland’s health staff.

Mr Hinchliffe proposed, from January 2022, 350 students would be permitted to enter the state each fortnight before scaling up as vaccine rates improve.

Students must be fully vaccinated and will quarantine at Wellcamp upon arrival.

“This is important to do until we have higher vaccination rates,” he said.

“We don’t know if, or when, mutation number five will arrive.”

Mr Hinchliffe said the $5.8bn international education sector supported 27,500 Queensland jobs before Covid-19.

There are more than 20,000 international students enrolled in Queensland universities.