Howard Springs: Michael Gunner, Scott Morrison at odds about restart date of Indian repatriation flights
The Chief Minister continues to insist flights from the virus-stricken subcontinent most likely won’t restart until June, despite Scott Morrison saying national cabinet agreed to resume flights on May 15.
Northern Territory
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- Only 160 of 400 staff for Howard Springs found
- All repatriation flights from India to Darwin ‘paused’ until May 15
THE federal and Territory governments are at odds about when repatriation flights from virus-stricken India will resume.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner yesterday reiterated his belief that all Indian repatriation flights scheduled for May would be pushed back to June, amid a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases on the subcontinent.
There are currently 55 positive cases of COVID-19 in the Northern Territory, the vast majority of whom boarded repatriation flights in India.
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Mr Gunner first announced the deferral of the May flights last week, but on repeated occasions this week Prime Minister Scott Morrison has insisted Indian repatriation flights would resume on May 15.
The Chief Minister on Friday reiterated he believed flights were unlikely in mid-May due to the high number of COVID-19 cases in Howard Springs quarantine camp.
“The Australian government obviously wants to have a look again at May 15,” Mr Gunner said.
“While our caseload remains high, we won’t be able to take those flights,” he said.
“As it stands now we’re at 55 cases – that’s the reality. There will need to be a change in that.”
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister however said national cabinet had only agreed to the suspension of repatriation flights only lasted until May 15.
“What we agreed (on Tuesday) … was that we would suspend those flights into the Northern Territory as well as into New South Wales, where the direct flights occur, until the 15th of May,” Mr Morrison said.
“I appreciate the working relationship that we have with the Chief Minister. We’re in quite regular contact with each other,” he said.
Capacity aboard repatriation flights from India was last week slashed by 30 per cent, and then scrapped for May entirely, amid the surge in COVID-19 cases coming into Howard Springs.
Mr Gunner yesterday said the decision to halt flights from India was taken to prevent the NT’s health system being overloaded with coronavirus infections.
The Chief Minister however refused to be drawn on just how many coronavirus cases the NT’s repatriation system could handle at once.
The 55 cases currently at Howard Springs marks the most active cases simultaneously in the NT since the pandemic began.
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