Victoria hotel quarantine remains closed leaving Australian citizens stranded overseas
Victoria has put a pause on international flights, leaving Australian families stranded overseas.
The move came after Melbourne’s last lockdown in February, sparked by a COVID-19 outbreak linked to the Holiday Inn Melbourne Airport hotel.
The pause on international flights comes as Allen Cheng, Deputy Chief Health Officer and a team of medical experts conduct a review into several new strains of the virus and their impact on the hotel quarantine system.
A government spokesperson said of the pause, "It's appropriate that international arrivals remain paused until that work is done."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says there are approximately 37,000 people currently registered as being overseas and wanting to return.
Many families who have already been stranded for over a year, have seen their latest flights cancelled leaving them extremely frustrated.
The Trigg Family have tried to leave Dubai on three different occasions, only to find out that their latest flight to Melbourne has been cancelled.
"When this latest flight was cancelled, we were exhausted and shattered," Georgina Trigg said.
Victoria is lagging behind other states in repatriating Australian citizens who are stranded overseas.
The current national cap limits for Australian arrivals set by National Cabinet are being met by NSW allowing 3010 arrivals per week, Queensland around 1,000 and South Australia taking more than 500. Northern Territory will soon take close to 2000 repatriated Australians each fortnight.
On Sunday, Government Minister Jaala Pulford announced the National Cabinet would discuss the issue when it next met on 9 April.
"Our overarching imperative is to keep the Victorian community safe," Ms Pulford said.
"We understand that all jurisdictions have a role to play to assist people who may be stranded overseas to return, and when the public health advice determines that it’s safe to do so, we’ll have further announcements."
Irit Jackson, 22nd March 2021
