NT Government in discussions with Commonwealth about using Howard Springs for returning Aussies

THE Northern Territory government is open to helping house Australians returning home from overseas, as pressure mounts on the nation’s authorities to assist thousands of stranded citizens.

• NT Government ‘open’ to taking in more overseas arrivals at the Howard Springs facility
• MP Luke Gosling blasts Australia’s international arrivals cap

THE Northern Territory government is open to helping house Australians returning home from overseas, as pressure mounts on the nation’s authorities to assist thousands of stranded citizens.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles, declaring the NT had again hit the milestone of eradicating COVID-19, confirmed the Howard Springs quarantine facility had space to house 3000 people and the government was open to the idea of taking in Australians arriving on international flights.

She said there were conversations occurring, via the Chief Minister at National Cabinet, with the Federal Government about how the NT could assist.

But she warned “a lot of work” would need to go toward setting up the NT’s role in any repatriation program, with the health and safety of Territorians the first priority.

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Health Minister Natasha Fyles addresses the media at Darwin International Airport to mark the NT eradicating COVID-19 for the second time. Picture: Che Chorley

“It’s not as simple as saying that we’ve got space for 2000 more people, it’s very complex, we need to keep people in different cohorts within that facility,” she said.

“If we are to see people coming from a high-risk overseas country where there is a higher spread of coronavirus, all of that would have to be taken into account, but there is certainly the room.”

There has been increasing pressure for governments to do more for the approximately 18,000 Australians stranded overseas, largely in India, South Africa, the Philippines and Vietnam, who are trying to come home.

NT Department of Health workers in the Darwin International Airport’s border control area, where travellers are screened to see if they are free to come in or must be sent to mandatory quarantine. Picture: Che Chorley

A spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack told the NT News national cabinet had agreed, at its most recent meeting, to increase the capacity for international arrivals “where possible” to help Australians come home.

He said the government was “working closely” with state and territory governments to make this happen, including “where first ministers have said their jurisdiction would be willing to take in higher numbers of people”.

The number of people coming home to Australia was reduced from 7000 to just over 4000 per week in July to reduce pressure on hotel quarantine facilities, particularly in Melbourne, following the recent outbreak.

Approximately 2500 of those are being quarantined in NSW, with zero currently being taken in by the NT.

Between the cap on international arrivals, a scarcity of plane tickets and the cost of mandatory quarantine upon return, the journey home has proved insurmountable for many.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday called on other jurisdictions to do “their fair share”.

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The NT has already played a national role in taking in Australians, helping quarantine hundreds of evacuees from Wuhan and then from the Diamond Princess cruise ship at the beginning of the pandemic.