Hotel caps fixed: stranded passengers forced to wait

Scott Morrison has confirmed there will be no imminent changes to the nation’s hotel quarantine capacity after the caps were halved.

A Qantas repatriation flight touches down at RAAF Base Darwin last year. Picture: Getty Images

Scott Morrison has confirmed there will be no imminent changes to the nation’s hotel quarantine capacity after the caps were halved to help prevent more contagious COVID-19 strains from taking hold, with stranded Australians having to wait another three weeks to find out if the restrictions will be lifted.

The Prime Minister on Friday said the commonwealth had already organised 20 additional repatriation flights to help cover the temporary shortfall and would work with the states and territories to try and create additional capacity before the caps are revisited on February 15.

“There is the opportunity for me to engage with individual states and territories on a bilateral basis if we believe we can create additional capacity, but that is not an indication that that will occur,” he said. “We are seeking to have a flexible arrangement with states and territories between now and the 15th of February to meet those demands.”

It comes after Emirates announced they would resume flights from London to Australia after the airline said it would ­temporarily stop flying to the eastern states.

Australians returning on commonwealth repatriation flights are likely to be quarantined at the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory and will be charged commercial rates of up to $15,000 for their seat amid skyrocketing demand for a spot.

Mr Morrison warned that the repatriation of Australians was important but would not come at the expense of public health.

“Our first priority is the health and safety within Australia and then to seek and to bring and support as many Australians seeking to come home as soon as possible,” he said. “We’ve been able to maintain that.”

There have been 90 repatriation flights to date, with the additional 20 trips unlikely to make a substantial dent in bringing the 40,000 Australians that are stranded overseas home.

While passengers on board the flights will be charged commercial fees, $17m has been set aside to help those suffering financial hardship.

The Australian understands that the routes will be determined by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with priority given to locations with no commercial alternatives and where there are high concentrations of Australians.

Acting Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham said the government was committed to getting stranded Australians home as quickly as possible.

“More than 446,000 Australians have come back … since we issued the suggestion that people should come back if they wish to in March last year,” he told Sky News.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong accused Mr Morrison of “passing the buck” to the states.

“Rather than delivering a plan for safe national quarantine, Scott Morrison has handballed responsibility to the states and pushed off making changes until February,” she said.