Coronavirus: A very merry Christmas as states decide date

All states and territories except for WA have endorsed­ a COVID-19 national reopening plan, removing all border closures and social ­restrictions by Christmas.

Scott Morrison in Canberra on Friday. Picture: Gary Ramage

All states and territories except for Western Australia have endorsed­ a COVID-19 national reopening plan, removing all border closures and social ­restrictions by Christmas, and resuming international travel with low-risk countries.

The new economic framework, updating the national cabinet’s COVID Safe Australia roadmap from May, would see no restrictions on gatherings and all schools, shopping centres and pubs opened by December 25.

Under stage three of the strategy — dubbed COVID Normal — tourists, students and businesspeople from COVID-safe destinations across the Asia-Pacific­ could be travelling to Australia within two months.

Overseas students and seasonal workers, viewed as critical for the higher education and agriculture sectors, will also be targeted under a COVID-safe international travel regime using pilot programs.

Following the trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand, launched last week, the Morrison government is inching closer to two-way travel arrangements with nations reporting low coronavirus infection rates, including Singapore, Korea, Japan and South Pacific countries.

Scott Morrison said on Friday the government was considering allowing international arrivals to quarantine at home and on farms, university campuses and mining camps.

“How would people quarantine if they’re coming and in what arrangements and what are the commercial arrangements for that as well? That’s the work we’ll do now,” the Prime Minister said. “I think what’s important is what we’re signalling to the community and whether it’s airlines or others … is where we’re already moving forward to try and solve these problems so we can be proactive about this.”

The national reopening framework also calls for “free movement between areas with no community transmission” and the removal of all domestic border restrictions­, which was opposed by West Australian Premier Mark McGowan, who refused to soften his hardline pre-election position on domestic travel.

Mr Morrison said Mr McGowan’s opposition to the reopening framework was a “matter for him”. “Around the rest of the country they have their time­tables and we look forward to that opening and the commitment by Christmas of this year,” he said.

“Certainly seven out of the eight states and territories will be open and that’ll be a great day for Australia. You never know, there might be eight.”

The reopening plan is supported by enhanced surveillance, quarantine, isolation, testing, contract tracing and outbreak responsiveness measures, and recognises that the “highly infectious nature of COVID-19 means that it will be present until a vaccine is found”. Social distancing rules will also remai­n in place.

Following the first national cabinet meeting in five weeks, Mr Morrison announced Western Australia and Queensland would increase their caps for internat­ional arrivals from next month, to support the return of Australians stranded overseas.

The first Qantas charter flight carrying 161 Australians arrived from London on Friday, with passengers transported to the Howard Springs facility near Darwin, where they will quarantine before returning to their home states.

Mr Morrison said he was speaking with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein to fast-track the return of 26,000 Aust­ral­ians before December 25.

Since September 18, the Morrison government has returned 1278 vulnerable Aust­ralians, with 2822 still overseas. Flights from India, South Africa and Europe will arrive in coming weeks.

The Weekend Australian under­stands the Andrews government, contingent on Victoria’s ongoing success in suppressing the virus, could agree to accept returnin­g Australians by the middle of next month.

The national review of hotel quarantine, released on Friday, recommended that travellers from countries with low-COVID numbers should be exempted from mandatory quarantine arrangement­s.

The review, prepared by forme­r Health Department secre­tary Jane Halton, found the existing system had been “difficult to endure” for vulnerable people and required a more highly specialised workforce, including clinical, ­welfare and security staff, to oversee quarantine arrangements.

Ms Halton’s six recommend­ations included setting up a nation­al facility for quarantine to be used for emergency situations, exempting low-risk travellers from quarantine, and for state and territories to “embed end-to-end assurance mechanisms” and bette­r complaints processes.

She recommended that inform­ation on the quarantine system be more easily accessible for returning travellers so they could be better “psychologically prepared” for the experience.

The national cabinet will next meet on November 13.