‘Pathetic, shameful’: Australians stranded overseas upset Rita Ora gets to Sydney for TV show

Australians stuck overseas are upset Rita Ora has managed to touch down in Sydney to be a judge on The Voice before them.

After she was fined for breaking COVID-19 rules over a lockdown party, UK singer Rita Ora has touched down in Sydney to be a judge on The Voice.

Ora’s arrival in Sydney to star on the Channel Seven reality show angered Australians struggling to get home.

The star, who travelled first class to Australia, is now locked in the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine.

And it comes after she volunteered to pay a $20,000 fine for holding a lockdown party at a restaurant in Notting Hill, London.

Models Cara and Poppy Delevigne were among the guests at her “secret 30th birthday” bash, which angered police who have been trying to enforce social distancing in the UK where coronavirus has claimed more than 100,000 lives.

Rita Ora recently volunteered to pay a $20,000 fine for holding a lockdown party at a restaurant in Notting Hill, London. Picture: Getty Images

Former Labor leader Bill Shorten said Ora’s arrival in Australia revealed a two-speed system.

“The rich can pay to come and go and ordinary Aussies get the cold shoulder,” he said.

“As a local MP I’ve been inundated with Aussies still stuck all over the globe trying to get home.

“It’s a disgrace that thousands of Australians who should have the protection of the kangaroo and emu on their passport are still left stranded overseas by the Morrison Government.”

Mr Shorten said that more airlines and defence bases should be used for quarantine to bring Australians home.

“Many of those people were encouraged in the first place by the Government not to rush home and overwhelm the system, but have now been abandoned,” he said.

The sultry star is now in hotel quarantine. Picture: ritaora/Instagram

Australia’s yo-yoing passenger arrival caps have left 40,000 people in limbo, with a 50 per cent cap reduction last month leading to mass flight cancellations.

Sydney man Eran Ben-Avraham, who is stuck in Leeds, in England’s north, said he was angry Ora jumped the queue.

“I just think it’s wrong, it’s a slap in the face. Everyday Australians are forking out thousands to get home and celebrities are able to come and go as they please,” he said.

Another Australian, who asked not to be named, said: “To be honest it’s pretty disgusting and disheartening when you put it next to the stories over the weekend of the 34 year old with stage 4 lung cancer having flights bumped.

“This is shameful. And pathetic. And actually just feels like a kick in the guts.”

Ora has been front page news in Britain with her lockdown party antics.

However, she was treated as a standard passenger when she arrived in Australia.

She is now undergoing a 14-day mandatory hotel quarantine unlike other celebrities who were granted exemptions to quarantine in private properties.

“Rita travelled first-class, with all the trimmings of private lounges and VIP suites,” a source told The Sun.

“But there was nothing she could do to avoid having to properly quarantine.

“It’s very clear how seriously the Australians are taking their border control, and there are no risks taken at all.

“They have no time for rule-breakers. Border agents and the military are involved – and she had to comply.”

Australia’s yo-yoing international arrival caps have left 40,000 people in limbo. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Flavio Brancaleone

Emirates cancelled flights to the UK last week, after Britain stopped allowing flights to the UAE to stop the spread of COVID.

That led to cancellations for Australians wanting to travel home via Dubai, however, after negotiation with the government flights are due to resume.

The disruption has led to chaos for those trying to get back to Australia, particularly around making decisions about whether to end leases and quit jobs.

Some Australians were only being told their flights were cancelled when they arrived at the airport.

Nurse Giulia Martello, 25, of Melbourne, was turned away from her flight at the weekend.

She had already been bumped before in September.

“I’m so exhausted,” she said.

Ms Martello had quit her job and left her lease in Norfolk, about two hours’ drive north of London, when she was due to fly back last year.

It took her two months to get her job back as she had to reapply and go through a new series of tests and registration protocol.

Ms Martello had gone back to her share house at the weekend, where she was now sleeping on the couch because her room had already been let out to someone else.

She was hoping to get another flight this week to see her family for the first time in two years.

An Australian government subsidised Qantas flight left early on Monday London time, the second in a week.

However, stranded Australians have demanded an overhaul of the quarantine system.

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Originally published as ‘Pathetic, shameful’: Australians stranded overseas upset Rita Ora gets to Sydney for TV show