Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Bragg for his question. Yesterday, of course, the 266 passengers who took the second assisted departure flight from Wuhan arrived in Australia. Those passengers continue to show no signs of being infected by the coronavirus. The Australians on the first flight and those who were assisted by New Zealand also remain healthy, on the advice of the chief medical officers. The passengers on the flight yesterday included 95 children under 16 years of age, 11 of whom were infants, and 16 passengers over 60 years of age. Again, we have focused on helping those Australians in an isolated and vulnerable position, and we have prioritised keeping family units together. This brings the total number of Australians who have been assisted to leave Wuhan to 531.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade crisis centre has taken over 10,000 calls since 23 January. Our embassies and our consulate in China have received more than 2,000 calls for advice or assistance. We are, of course, also aware of a number of Australian children who remain in Wuhan with family but who have no immediate guardian to accompany them on any assisted departure flight. We have explored options to assist these children to come home, but Chinese authorities have not agreed to allow family members who are Chinese nationals without Australian citizenship or permanent residence to board these flights. That does, in effect, restrict those options. We understand that this is a difficult situation. The children remain with family—I'm advised that in most cases they're with grandparents—and are being well cared for. We are well aware of the challenges that this presents and we will continue to talk with Australians as this matter proceeds.