Aussie mum stranded in UK angry as tennis players fly in to Australia

An Australian model and mum, who is currently stuck in the UK and trying to return home, has hit out at the government’s “double standards”.

An Australian model and mum, currently living in the UK with her young son, has hit out at the Australian government for allowing “rich” international tennis stars travel Down Under while she is still unable to do the same.

Belle Lucia, who has 1.3 million Instagram followers, hit out the Federal Government over their “double standards” regarding international passenger arrivals and quarantine arrangements.

Ms Lucia, who has an expiring visa and therefore will no longer be able to live or work in the UK, wants to return to Australia with her young son. But the cap on how many arrivals can be processed into hotel quarantine has been slashed across the country, meaning she – and around 40,000 other Australians – remain stranded abroad.

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Model Belle Lucia has 1.3 million Instagram followers and wants to return to Australia.

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“So if you’re a rich tennis player no problem getting into the country. If you’re an Australian citizen with an almost expired visa with a baby, then no,” she wrote on the social media platform.

“Also, it’s mandatory to do two weeks’ hotel quarantine but a lot of tennis players get practice time outdoors which is another double standard.”

Under recent changes to the rules around international arrivals, the number of flights returning to Australia has been reduced in the wake of a Brisbane hotel quarantine worker contracting the UK’s new mutant strain of COVID-19 earlier this month.

Belle Lucia posted to Instagram.

Until February 15, the number of international arrivals into New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia will be halved “to manage the flow of returning Australians and other travellers who have been potentially exposed to the new variants” of coronavirus.

The model took aim at international tennis players who can fly in to Australia while caps are in place.

The 25-year-old hasn’t been unable to secure a flight home due to caps on the number of people who can fly into Australia.

This means that in NSW, the state will be allowed to take a maximum of 1505 people a week into hotel quarantine.

Queensland will be allowed a maximum of 500 people weekly, while Western Australia will cap numbers at 512.

Along with caps in place, flight ticket prices have also soared as a result, which has meant airlines are only able to carry a few dozen passengers on planes built to accommodate hundreds and jacked up the price.