Australia won’t risk lives for international travel, Scott Morrison says

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refused to yet consider reopening borders, hitting back at controversial comments from the boss of Virgin Australia.

Business leaders are begging Prime Minister Scott Morrison to face reality and commit to a reasonable plan for resuming international travel after he repeatedly ­refused to tie vaccination rates with reopening borders.

Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner yesterday rushed to defend the comments of Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka, after she was condemned for arguing the country needed to accept more risk to reopen the border, even though some people “may die”.

“It didn’t sound callous to me,” Mr Turner said.

“The point is we can’t stay shut forever.

“But it’s a question of when do we open and what are the conditions for opening.”

Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has called for borders to open as vaccinations are complete. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Jono Searle

Ms Hrdlicka had said it should be possible to reopen borders “sooner” than mid-2022 — once vulnerable Australians and any others who wanted a vaccine had ­received one.

“(COVID) will make us sick but won’t put us into ­hospital,” she said.

But Mr Morrison yesterday described Ms Hrdlicka’s comments as “insensitive,” arguing medical advice confirmed it was “not safe to take those paths” toward reopening as not all vaccines could deal with new virus variants.

“I’m not going to take risks with Australians’ lives,” the PM said.

“(A total of) 910 Australians have lost their lives.

“Every single one of those lives was a terrible tragedy.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared he will not risk Australian lives by reopening borders even when vaccination is complete. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

His tough stance comes as recent polling showed about 73 per cent of Australians currently supported international borders remaining closed.

Australian Airport Association chief James Goodwin told The Daily Telegraph the sector had continued to call for a “plan” from the government on how it will restart international travel.

“There are long lead times in aviation and a plan is crucial so all parts of the sector and the community can be well prepared,” he said.

Mr Goodwin said a new survey of 500 recent travellers had found 80 per cent of people supported the creation of more travel bubbles to other COVID-19 safe countries.

“Our research suggests there is high-level support among the travelling public for a cautious and planned approach to broadening the scope for international ­travel,” he said.

Australia’s international borders are not expected to open until mid-2022. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

Mr Morrison’s aversion to setting goals or targets for reopening is in stark contrast to his attitude toward reopening Australia from the first nat­ional lockdown last year.

In a warning to the Australian public and nervous state leaders in May 2020, Mr Morrison said the country “cannot allow our fear of going backwards from stopping us from going forward”.

“We cannot be too timid,’’ he said at the time.

“There will be risks. There will be challenges.

“There will be outbreaks, there will be more cases, there will be setbacks.”

NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has lamented the lack of forward planning by his federal counterparts, saying while he understood the Budget had to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Australia must “do more than just hope”.

“Living through one of the most disruptive periods in a generation, the community and businesses are crying out for a clear path forward,” he writes in today’s The Daily Telegraph.

Originally published as Australia won’t risk lives for international travel, Scott Morrison says