Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison government's national plan will ensure that Australians overseas can come home and those who are here can travel to visit loved ones overseas as part of the reopening of our international borders?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question and congratulate him and thank him for the great work that he has done, particularly over the last 18 months, as he's been supporting the people in his electorate through what is clearly an incredibly difficult time. It's very clear that the decision that was taken by the Morrison government to close our international borders has saved a significant number of lives. But we've always known that it's not in Australia's interests to keep the international border closed for any longer than is absolutely necessary.

Vaccination is and always has been key to safely reopening Australia to the rest of the world. Australians have absolutely rolled up their sleeves. They have very proactively gotten out there in a remarkable way and chosen to be vaccinated. Across Australia we have some of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Australians deserve the opportunity to be able to freely travel again, for holidays, for business purposes and, most importantly, so that they can be with their loved ones. In November, the outbound travel requirements will be lifted for fully vaccinated Australians, and they will be able to travel in and out of Australia without restriction, subject to the quarantine requirements of the states and territories that they fly back into.

We know that many Australians overseas have struggled to get home, with flight limitations due to the quarantine caps that have been set by states and territories. Of course, New South Wales have facilitated a very large proportion of quarantine for returned travellers throughout this pandemic, and they are leading the way again, announcing no quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers from 1 November. That is very welcome news. There are a number of states and territories that are going through the process of trialling home quarantine, which will mean that vaccinated Australians can come in above the current caps. I know that that is welcomed by many Australians right across Australia.

We have announced that we will be extending travel exemption eligibility to include parents of Australians so that mums and dads living overseas will be able to be reunited here on our shores—so that they can hug their grandkids once again. It's absolutely appropriate that they should be amongst the first welcomed back here to Australia. As soon as it's possible, we want to make sure that we can bring into this country the skilled workers and the international students that we so desperately need. And then, of course, we will be welcoming back international tourists, because they are most welcome here in Australia. We want to show them all that we have to offer here.