Coronavirus: Backpackers are keen to stay on, despite warnings

The party is finally over for backpackers, following a police crackdown, but many travellers say they are determined to stay on.

French backpackers Midani Ben Romdhane and Alice Renard in Sydney. Picture: Britta Campion

The party is finally over for backpackers, following a police crackdown on hostel parties — but many young travellers say they are determined to stay on in Australia despite authorities urging them to return to their homelands.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said officers were vigil­ant to anyone breaching the state’s strict social-distancing laws and encouraged anyone who witnessed travellers disregarding the rules to report it to police.

His comments came after a group of backpackers was spotted drinking on the rooftop of a Kings Cross hostel on Tuesday evening, prompting concerns young itinerants could be exacerbating the spread of COVID-19.

“If you see people congregating, particularly drinking in the park or backpackers who are international travellers … please report it and we will respond,” Mr Fuller told reporters in Sydney on Thursday. “The community are reporting people who are breaking these isolation laws. There’s lots of people­ who do believe in isolation and do understand it.”

A backpacker residence in Bondi has already closed its doors as it could no longer comply with the new restrictions, he added.

Sydney’s east has become a focus for authorities, with a pop-up COVID-19 testing clinic set up in Bondi after virus clusters developed within the city’s backpacker community.

NSW Health said more than 115 people were tested within the first few hours of the facility opening on Wednesday.

The Berejiklian government advised backpackers to fly home, with NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman saying now was not the time for sightseeing.

“They’ve come to Australia for tourism,” he told ABC TV on ­Thursday afternoon. “Tourism isn’t a reasonable excuse. Working, learning, getting food, medical supplies and so on are reasonable excuses. It doesn’t leave much else for backpackers to do and they should be going home.”

For many backpackers, that is a stark proposition — with con­ditions in their home country far worse than those of Australia.

Argentinian Emanuel Garcia, 26, and Chilean Pablo Saavedra, 27, told The Australian they would rather stay in Sydney for a year or more than return home. “The situation in Argentina is much worse with the lockdown, you can’t leave your house or do anything,” Mr Garcia said, adding that he had been living in his Kings Cross ­hostel for four months already.

“I am working as an Uber driver here and my visa lasts until the end of the year. I would like to go out to the country and work on a farm if I can.”

Mr Saavedra, who has part-time work as a high-rise window cleaner, said he was unperturbed by the possibility of contracting coronavirus in a country where he has no right to healthcare or access to unemployment benefits.

“It is better to be here than Chile,” he shrugged. “It does not cost a lot to live here at the moment: because of the coronavirus, a room is costing me $150 a week.”

Midani Ben Romdhane arrived in Perth from Paris with his partner, Alice Renard, six months ago.

Spending about $10,000 on a Mitsubishi Pajero and camping gear, the pair embarked on a trip of a lifetime around the country — but now they want to go home.

“We would much rather be home with people we know,” Ms Renard said. She boarded a flight chartered by the French government from Sydney on Thursday afternoon, but Mr Ben Romdhane was not with her, as he is staying to sell the car before returning home, instead of abandoning it.

Additional reporting: AAP