Andrew Bolt ‘ashamed of Australia’ over India flight ban, threat of jail and fines for citizens

Controversial commentator Andrew Bolt has come out swinging against the PM, claiming the government’s India call “stinks of racism”.

Sky News host Andrew Bolt has declared he is “ashamed of Australia” over the threat of jail terms for Indian-Australians trying to return home slamming the Prime Minister’s decision as a bad call that “stinks of racism.”

The controversial columnist who rarely pulls his punches has come out swinging over the Prime Minister’s decision to threaten jail terms and $66,000 fines for Australian citizens trying to return from India.

The temporary measure is designed to allow for hotel quarantine upgrades in Australia before an influx of citizens fleeing COVID-ravaged India.

But Bolt has slammed the decision in his Herald Sun column and on Sky News today as a disgrace.

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India is in the grip of a brutal second wave. Picture: Sajjad HUSSAIN/AFP

“I hate people playing the race card. But even I must now say I am ashamed of Australia, which is making it a crime for Indian Australians to come back home,’’ he said.

“To me, it stinks of racism to tell the 8000 Indian Australians trying to come home that they must stay in India, in what Western Australia’s Premier admitted was the ‘epicentre of death and destruction’.”

Chillingly, Bolt goes on to argue that the death of any Australian left trapped in India should “shame” the Prime Minister.

“The death of any Australian in India because of this ban will shame the Prime Minister and everyone cheering this despicable and irrational policy,’’ he said.

“Any death will be because we turned our back on our own.”

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has also broken ranks to criticise the decision.

“We should be helping Aussies in India return, not jailing them. Let’s fix our quarantine system rather than leave our fellow Australians stranded,’’ he said.

We should be helping Aussies in India return not jailing them. Let's fix our quarantine system rather than leave our fellow Australians stranded.

— Matthew Canavan (@mattjcan) May 2, 2021

Bolt goes on to argue that fear, ignorance and incompetence – not racism – drove the Morrison Government to announce $66,600 fines and even jail for anyone who flies back from India.

“Fear, because Australians are almost insanely paranoid about a virus that is now infecting 400,000 people a day in India but which has killed just one Australian here this year – an 80-year-old who got infected in the Philippines,’’ he said.

“Ignorance, because our contact tracers have actually contained every recent outbreak from our quarantine hotels, making our city-shutdowns pointless.

“Incompetence, because we still do not have the failsafe and purpose-built quarantine centres for returning travellers that we’ll need for possibly years to come, relying instead on hotels – some not fit for purpose – bizarrely placed in the middle of our biggest cities.”

But he argues that Australian hospitals could cope with the influx.

“And what is our government suggesting: that Australians who get sick in India must take their chances with Indian hospitals that are short of even oxygen, when the taxes of these citizens helped to pay for Australian hospitals at home that could save them?,’’ Bolt said.

“This policy is so mean and irrational that I must also blame racism.

“I can’t believe we would impose such a travel ban on white Australians fleeing from, say, England.

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Andrew Bolt has hit out at the policy.

“Indeed, I keep hearing people criticise Indian Australians for having gone back to India in the first place, as if they were recklessly choosing some foreign hellhole over Australia. As if they were phony Australians.

“The truth is that many went back to do the kind of things we’d expect from people with good hearts – to help a sick or bereaved parent, or introduce a baby to their grandparents, or go to a funeral or get married.”

Bolt said he was disgusted by the sentiment that these Australians had “made their bed in India and must now lie in it?”

“In fact, these are Australian citizens. They had to renounce their Indian citizenship to become Australians. Australia is their only country, and has a duty of care towards them,’’ he said.

“It should mean something to be Australian. It should mean that when disaster strikes, wherever you are in the world, Australia will try to save you.

“That’s not happening here. Australians caught in the virus disaster in India have been told we’re leaving them there. And if they die there, too bad. It’s every man for himself.”

Earlier, the Prime Minister rejected claims that his Indian flight ban was racist warning he’s making the “hard calls” that have helped save 30,000 Australian lives.

Pointing to the death rate in other OECD countries, Mr Morrison said if Australia had a similar experience we would have deaths in the thousands.

“If we had the fatality rate of COVID that the average of all the OECD countries had … 30,000 more people would have died in Australia.

“30,000. It’s a staggering figure. And we’ve prevented that here in Australia. But it also meant we’ve had to take some unpopular decisions. This is one and my heartbreaks for the Indian community but I assure them I am going to restore those repatriation flights once we can get them safely back to Australia.”

The Prime Minister insisted the flight ban was based on medical advice.

“I have clear advice from the chief medical officer that this is a decision that is supported.”

However, chief medical officer Paul Kelly told Sky News this morning the jail threat was not ordered by him.

Prof Kelly said the criminal punishment was a separate part of Australia’s Biosecurity Act, but health authorities had not been asked to advise on that section of the government act.

“Let’s be very clear, we were asked for public health advice on the nature of threat, how long (a measure) was needed, that was the advice given,” he told Sky News.

“We weren’t asked about penalties.”

“I’m an adviser, I don’t make decisions for the government,” he said.

The Prime Minister has pledged to review the decision by May 15 – or earlier if it can be lifted.