The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has announced a national plan to reopen the country by Christmas. This plan had already been mentioned by Morrison, but it has now been accepted by all but one of the nation’s state premiers. Speaking following a meeting of the National Cabinet, the PM said that seven of Australia’s eight states and territories had committed to the plan, the exception being Western Australia, which has so far refused to relax its hard border closure policy despite pressure from the federal government.
While the majority of state premiers have embraced the plans, each state and territory will still operate under its own managed timeline, with different parts of the country opening up at different times. Morrison said the exact dates when interstate borders would begin reopening would be announced following the next national cabinet meeting on November 13, although some reopenings have already been tentatively scheduled. Queensland is still due to reopen its border with NSW on November 1, despite NSW failing to meet the 28-days without community transmission criteria originally set by the Queensland premier earlier this month. Tasmania will reopen to travellers from NSW from November 2, while free movement into the Northern Territory and South Australia is already permitted.
The plans to reopen the country not only take into account free movement between states, but also health management protocols that will allow outbreaks of the virus to be effectively managed without the need for border closures in the future. The majority of Australian states and territories have had some level of border control in place since April, but as Victoria prepares to ease its strict lockdown orders, and outbreaks elsewhere in the country come under control, the need for such drastic measures has receded.
The PM also announced an increase of the cap on the number of returning Australians permitted to reenter the country by 300 a month. It’s estimated that as many as 30,000 Australians are currently stranded overseas, with lengthy backlogs due to entry caps preventing many from returning who wish to.
However, the PM had less hopeful news for the international tourism sector, saying that international borders would remain sealed for the foreseeable future, save for the trans-Tasman travel bubble, which has already begun operating, one way, between New Zealand and Australia. It’s estimated that the Australian airlines have lost more than $61 billion in revenues this year, while domestic carriers have lost $17 billion. However, Morrison signalled that plans to reopen international borders were in the works, saying "We are already moving forward to try and solve these problems... we are being proactive."