PM Scott Morrison vows to stop travel loopholes after slamming border shut to india

People returning from India to Australia will no longer be able to transit through Doha after the government closed the loophole.

People returning from India to Australia will no longer be able to transit through Doha after the federal government belatedly closed a loophole that was allowing passengers in.

Scott Morrison earlier this week announced flights from India to Australia would be paused until May 15 as the coronavirus outbreak there overwhelms the country, with daily cases surging to more than 362,000.

But travellers from India were still able to enter Australia via Doha, Qatar, until Wednesday night.

Two Australian cricketers who had been in India arrived on a flight from Doha on Thursday.

“It (the loophole) was closed off at 7pm Wednesday evening,” the Prime Minister told 2GB radio.

“That flight that those cricketers were on managed to get away just before that. We had information on Monday that that wasn’t possible. I’m advised there is a 14-day requirement when someone goes into Doha, but that wasn’t being applied to transit passengers.

“That was different from the advice we had on Monday night that came to our attention. We acted, we had it changed on Wednesday night. And we’ll be taking some more action there regarding transport of transit passengers today and I’ll be speaking to the premiers about that and when we meet at national cabinet.”

Mr Morrison said his government moved swiftly to stop one of the loopholes in Qatar after Aussie cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson landed in Australia on Thursday afternoon after choosing to exit the Indian Premier League cricket tournament early.

They arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Doha.

Australian cricketer Andrew Tye arrives at Sydney International Airport after playing in India. Picture: Jeremy Piper

This comes despite Australia slamming its border shut to India until May 15 in a bid to stop the virus spreading into the Australian community.

India’s healthcare system is at breaking point with millions of infections raging across the subcontinent – the country recorded 379,459 COVID-19 cases on Thursday.

Mr Morrison said his government would be taking “more action” on transit passengers later on Friday when he speaks to the premiers at national cabinet.

“We’ve already directly dealt with the airlines in Qatar and so those transit passengers – the airlines advised us – are no longer coming through from Doha,” he said.

“The places they are potentially coming from are Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and our advice is that those routes are closed off.

“I propose to take further action today which will be done under the biosecurity act.”