Biggest hint yet that Australia’s international borders will reopen as planned on December 15

The Morrison Government has given the biggest hint yet that Australia’s international border will reopen just in time for Christmas.

The federal government has hinted that Australia’s international border is “on track” to reopen to overseas students and skilled migrants on December 15.

Trade and Tourism Minister Dan Tehan told Sky News Australia that national cabinet would make a final decision on Friday but that things were looking good.

The reopening of the border was delayed by two weeks because of the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

“Everything we’re seeing from this new variant points to the fact that we should be able to progress on the 15th,” Mr Tehan said.

“Which is wonderful news for Australia’s tourism industry, wonderful news for universities, wonderful news for all those businesses looking for that workforce that’s really going to help springboard us out of the pandemic.”

Trade and Toourism Minister Dan Tehan.

It was a much more optimistic message than Cabinet colleague Greg Hunt who said just two days earlier that he was “certainly not making any guarantees” that the border would open on December 15.

“It’s our intention at the end of that period, subject to the science and medical advice, to return to the previous settings. It will depend on the international evidence,” he said.

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.

When he announced the two-week delay to the border reopening, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called on state governments not to be spooked into lockdowns.

“There is very much a no regrets policy, and ensuring we just move carefully so we, the whole point here is to ensure that we can remain safely open, and we don’t want to prejudice anything that might compromise that objective,” Mr Morrison said at the time. “The goal here is not no cases and low cases, the goal here is ensuring that our hospital system is able to cope with the pressure.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Mr Morrison also met with business leaders virtually to reiterate his position that the delay to the border reopening was temporary.

There are now 34 cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 detected in NSW, while cases have been detected in Queensland and Victoria.

Vaccinated international arrivals currently have to quarantine for 72 hours after they arrive in Australia in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

Travellers wait in line after verifying their Covid-19 vaccination status as they check-in for a flight to Sydney, Australia on Qantas Airways Ltd. inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

However, people who have been in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini or Malawi will be required to enter hotel quarantine for 14 days.

Australia has reported about 220,000 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began while 2000 people have died.

More than 88 per cent of the eligible population has received two vaccine doses.