Negotiations underway to almost triple Howard Springs capacity
THE Northern Territory could be taking in 2000 international arrivals per fortnight from May as part of a new plan under negotiation for the Howard Springs quarantine facility
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THE Northern Territory could be taking in 2000 international arrivals per fortnight from May as part of a new plan under negotiation for the Howard Springs quarantine facility.
The federal government is in negotiations with the NT government to almost triple the capacity of the quarantine centre this dry season.
The plan would see the Centre for National Resilience at Howards Springs accept about 2000 repatriated Australians from overseas each fortnight, up from 850.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he’d had many “positive discussions” with the federal government about expanding the facility’s capacity.
“The Prime Minister and I are working to significantly and safely expand the facility as we emerge from the cyclone season,” Mr Gunner said.
“Howard Springs continues to be the gold standard for quarantine in Australia, and we will be able to provide more details soon on how the Territory will increase its role in helping fellow Australians get home safely.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Howard Springs was being expanded and said other options would be considered if they were viable.
The expansion comes as the federal government faces mounting pressure for more regional quarantine.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews also flagged his desire to have less international travellers going to Melbourne following the latest quarantine leak.
Mr Andrews said “the game has changed” in light of more-contagious COVID-19 strains entering the country.
Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has proposed to follow the NT’s lead and move quarantine from city hotels to accommodation near Gladstone in the central part of the state.
The Prime Minister has previously said he thought expanding Howard Springs was a “far more effective way” to ramp up the repatriation effort compared to opening new facilities in regional areas, as has been suggested by Queensland.
“If you’re adding to an existing facility in an existing place then you’re also not exposing new areas of health risk,” Mr Morrison said.
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“You are actually just keeping it focused where you’ve been able to demonstrate you can maintain and manage that risk.”
The total number of repatriated Australians who have entered Howard Springs quarantine currently sits at 3781.
The commonwealth and NT governments first struck the Howard Springs deal in October, when the capacity was 500 repatriated Australians per fortnight.
This increased to 850 after the deal was renegotiated in December.
The bilateral repatriation deal, originally worth up to $54.7m to the NT government, was raised to $243.7m.
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