Hotel quarantine offer a lifeline for industries

The successful but controversial Australian Open quarantine system will be the model for a new system to bring more students into Australia.

Victoria will accept a further 120 economic arrivals a week under a new Australian Open-style hotel quarantine system designed to bolster the tertiary education, major events and stage and screen sectors.

Acting Victorian Premier James Merlino has written to Canberra outlining plans for the system, which would involve ­participants paying more for their stay in hotel quarantine than ­traditional arrivals.

The economic-based hotel system would also not be open to ­ordinary returnees.

About 1000 people are returning to Victoria from overseas under the latest hotel quarantine scheme.

The desire to attract 120 extra economic arrivals comes after the government introduced special hotel quarantine arrangements for the Australian Open tennis, which was run successfully but did attract significant controversy.

“We have considered the advice provided by the commonwealth that ad-hoc requests for arriving international passengers can be considered where arrivals are processed outside standard hotel quarantine arrangements and above allocated arrival caps,” Mr Merlino says in his letter to the Scott Morrison.

“Based on this advice and informed by the approach taken to support the successful staging of the Australian Open, the protocols and preconditions for international student arrivals and the principles for supporting the quarantine of seasonal workers, we have refined our earlier ­proposal.

“This arrangement will not impact Victoria’s international passenger arrival cap of 1000 ­arrivals per week as all arrivals will be accepted outside and above the cap on commercial passenger flights.”

The expansion of the hotel quarantine system comes after Victoria recently shut down ­arrivals after more problems with ­infections from returning travellers.

Officials from the Department of Premier and Cabinet will finalise the arrangements with their federal counterparts.

The decision to provide extra places for economic travellers comes amid deep concern about the smashed tertiary education system, which is strongly underpinned by overseas students.

Assuming the new system works and there is not another outbreak, the proposed model could add a further 6240 people to travel to Australia in a full year.

The final cost for those ­involved in the economic hotel quarantine model has not been revealed but it is expected to cost more than fees currently paid.

Returnees currently pay up to $3000 for one adult for a 14-day stay, $1000 for each extra adult in the same room or apartment and $500 for each child aged between three and 18 years.

No fee is charged for children aged under three years. 

Facilities to be used for the extra travellers will be subject to ventilation assessment and ­remediation works where required.

Mr Merlino writes: “The program will operate on an industry/user pays model with relevant industries/sectors …. providing funding to support the operating costs of the separate program.”