Highlights
- Opening of international travel depends on states achieving vaccination targets: PM
- Scott Morrison to travel to India next year
- 'The Indian community showed a lot of wisdom, patience, and judgment': PM
Prime Minister Morrison assured the Indian community that fully vaccinated Australian citizens and residents could travel to India this year.
"I said earlier my intention is for Australian citizens and residents, who are vaccinated in a state that has gone into phase C (80% vaccination), will be able to travel to India and return," Mr Morrison told journalists from the Indian community.
"I believe it will happen in New South Wales for Australian residents and citizens who are vaccinated. I'm working for that to happen this year in states that have achieved those vaccination rates," he said.
The from the Department of Health shows about 77.3 per cent of the eligible Australian population has received their first dose and about 53.4 people are fully vaccinated.
In ACT (63.2 per cent), NSW (62.9 per cent), Tasmania (57.8 per cent), Northern Territory (65.7 per cent), Victoria (49.1 per cent), South Australia (49 per cent), Queensland (46.2 per cent) and Western Australia (45.9 per cent) population has received their both doses as at 28 September.
Prime Minister Morrison said he was unsure whether other states, including Victoria, could achieve these targets by the end of this year. He said it depends on restrictions these states impose on people and their insistence on hotel quarantine.
"Well, that (hotel quarantine) is not a scalable option. And those states will then be preventing vaccinated Australians from actually going and seeing their family overseas and returning," Mr Morrison said.
"The national plan provides for you (fully vaccinated residents) to be able to go and come back and have a modified form of quarantine. The home quarantine trials that are underway now is the scalable safe way of achieving that," he said.
New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria have already announced their plans to trial home quarantine arrangements.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says plan to open international travel hinges on states hitting 80 per cent vaccination targets. Source: AAP Image/Joel Carrett
The Indian community has welcomed the news.
President of the Federation of Indian Associations in ACT Shanti Reddy said community members want to visit India without needing to quarantine in hotels on their return.
"There are members who couldn't visit India after their family members or loved ones died from COVID. Many people want to visit their ailing parents and attend to other important tasks," Mr Reddy said.
"We are doing our bit by promoting vaccines in the community but would appreciate if more states come out with their plans on returning travellers," he said.
Mr Morrison said his government has three priorities when Australia opens up for international travel.
"The first one is, of course, for Australians around the world to be able to come home if they're vaccinated and not be subject to any caps at our airports," he said.
"The second one is about skilled migrants. India is our biggest source of skilled migrants, and we want to see that happening again. So we have a keen vested interest in opening that (skilled migration program) up as soon as we can.
"The third area is international students. We want to see the students return. I think we'll see us in a much stronger position for next year. I would hope that we'd be able to be having those students back," Mr Morrison said.
Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said he was aware of the offerings made by Canada and the UK to international students.
"I'm working very closely with the education minister. We have several proposals that we'll continue to roll out," Minister Hawke said.
Mr Morrison said people other than Australian citizens and residents will have to wait a bit more before travelling to Australia.
"We've just got to take this one step at a time. The vaccination rates in India are very encouraging and they've got a very good vaccine. So I think that gives us a lot of opportunities going into next year," Mr Morrison said.
Mr Morrison said four facilitated flights are scheduled to arrive from India in October, taking the total number of such flights to 70. He said about 26,500 people have returned from India since the start of the pandemic.
"I think the Indian community showed a lot of wisdom, patience, and judgment. And I'm very grateful for that. I'm looking forward to the next ways where everybody can get connected," he said.
"I don't want to be the only one who's going to New Delhi next year, in fact, I want to see people going there before the end of this year. Or Mumbai, I'm not picking favourites."
