Returned travellers to pay $3k for Melbourne’s hotel quarantine

New legislation is set to allow returned travellers to be stung $3k for a stay in Victoria’s new hotel quarantine program.

Travellers will be charged $3000 for their 14-day stay in Victoria’s reset hotel quarantine program.

It comes as the state government said it has scaled back a request for Australian Defence Force support for the program, after saying the ADF advised they were unable to undertake security type work.

Legislation will be introduced to parliament next week that will allow charging for the mandatory program.

Families and couples would get a discount on the $3000 charge under the arrangement.

Only the first adult traveller would be charged $3000, with a $1000 fee for each additional adult in a room and $500 for children aged between three and 18.

There would be no charge for children under three.

The move to charge for the program brings Victoria into line with NSW, Queensland the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

New South Wales and South Australia have an identical pricing structure.

Travellers returning before the legislation is passed will not be billed, while others will be billed after leaving the program.

Waivers and payment plans will be available on a case by case basis.

Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the move was consistent with the decision of National Cabinet.

“It also ensures that when international flights to Victoria resume, we do not get a disproportionate number of returned travellers seeking to complete their mandatory quarantine period here to avoid the fees in other states,” she said.

“We understand this is a significant cost for people who are coming home – that’s why there will be hardship considerations, including fee waivers, reductions and payment plan options.”

The quarantine program will resume on Monday when the first international travellers return to Melbourne from Colombo at 8.15am.

It will be monitored by Victoria Police and Australian Defence Force personnel.

A government spokesperson said more than 100 ADF personnel had arrived in Melbourne on Friday and would begin training on Saturday.

Police and Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the move was consistent with the decision of National Cabinet. Picture: Paul Jeffers

The remainder of the ADF contingent will arrive by Tuesday and will be inducted by police throughout the week.

Victoria has asked the Commonwealth for 172 ADF personnel to support the program.

“The original request from Victoria has been scaled back after the ADF advised that they were not able to undertake any security type work or perform floor monitoring roles in the health hotels,” the spokeswoman said.

“This means Victoria Police will instead play that security role in all hotels - which they are already trained, rostered and ready to do - as well as continuing to undertake floor monitoring in the health hotels.

“The ADF personnel will support Victoria Police by helping residents on entry and exit, as well as registering staff movements and temperature checking workers before their shift.”

Victoria’s insistence not to use ADF personnel in the state’s first quarantine program has been blamed as a contributing factor for sparking the deadly second wave.

A Victoria Police plan for the problem-plagued program specifically excluded the use of Defence Force personnel, despite offers of support.

Private security guards were instead chosen to staff the hotels at a crucial March 27 meeting chaired by Emergency Management Victoria Commissioner Andrew Crisp and attended by senior Victorian bureaucrats.

Mr Crisp later made an urgent request for 850 personnel, but that was cancelled within 24 hours of it being made on June 24.

The offer of what support was on offer for ADF personnel has been a point of tension between the state and federal governments.

Opposition Police and Community Safety spokesman David Southwick said with less than 72 hours before arrivals land the reset program was in “disarray”.

“Only Daniel Andrews would announce a $3,000 bill for hotel quarantine guests only to realise he doesn’t have the legal power to charge people,” he said.

“How many arrivals will now be getting a free ride thanks to Daniel Andrews complete failure to prepare? Labor’s management of returned travellers is farcical.”

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