Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Let me assure those opposite that we do take those Australians stranded overseas very seriously. This is an extraordinary challenge that all governments around the world are living through. We are in a once-in-a-century pandemic, which has caused huge loss of life—1.4 million people around the world and still counting—which has caused a massive economic contraction around the world and which has caused a massive disruption to people's lives and lifestyles, with internal and external borders closed, with air travel dramatically wound back and with new health and movement restrictions introduced. This has undoubtedly caused hardship to many. Like others here, I've heard from many constituents, from many friends and from many family members who've been impacted by this. There are Australians who've wanted to go overseas to visit dying relatives. There are Australians who've wanted to go overseas to attend weddings, to visit children, to visit loved ones. We've had those who've wanted to visit close relatives in places like Queensland and Western Australia but have not been able to because of closed borders internally within Australia. And there are Australians, and I've got several within my family and many more within my electorate, who are overseas and who are keen to return home and who are finding it hard to do so. I share their distress and I empathise with them. Indeed, I want to do all that we can to ensure that we can fix it, but these are not normal times. We are operating within the constraints imposed by a once-in-a-century pandemic.

Australia has done remarkably well, better than nearly any other nation in the world, in protecting the health of our population and in saving lives in this pandemic. One of the key reasons that we have been able to do this is that we could close our international borders early and effectively. We've seen since that countries that have allowed free travel and have not been able to close their borders have seen second and even third waves of COVID-19. We've seen that in Australia it's been overwhelmingly overseas arrivals which have brought the disease back with them, and we've seen in Victoria the consequences of an ineffective quarantine arrangement. So we cannot afford to be reckless with our borders. The consequences would be all too real. And no-one in Australia would thank us for compromising their lives and compromising their health. This is why, at least for the foreseeable future, we must maintain effective quarantine for all international arrivals. I know that this is frustrating to many. I've heard from many within my own electorate, because demanding that people do compulsory quarantine on arrival means that there are fewer flights and fewer spaces available, and it means that there is a backlog of people who want to return. But the government and governments of all persuasions have to take the difficult but necessary decisions even when they may not be popular and they may not be easy. This is the very definition of responsible government: resisting the clamours of the day to govern long term in the national interest.

The availability of quarantine—not only beds but people to staff and manage and police quarantine effectively—and the willingness and ability of the states to manage the inflows will necessarily put an upwards limit on how many Australians can be returning to Australia on any given day and in any given week. Given these constraints, I think we've managed a great deal. Since the government urged people to reconsider their need to travel abroad on 13 March of this year, almost 426,600 Australians have returned home from overseas, half a million Australians. That's a massive amount; two per cent of our population has come back since we closed the borders. It's important to note that of those returning since we introduced that policy about 1.3 per cent have tested positive for COVID-19. As I have said, the main vector for new infections in Australia is international arrivals. Since the Prime Minister spoke about this issue on 18 September, we've had almost 36,000 Australians who've returned. DFAT, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has helped over 31,600 Australian citizens and permanent residents return home on more than 369 flights, of which 72 have been directly facilitated by the government. The government established the International Aviation Network in April, working with Qantas and Virgin Australia to run 62 commercial flights from London, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Auckland. There are still many who wish to return home. As of 25 November there were 46,800 people registered, of whom 36,000 wish to return home, and we will do our best to get these people home. We'll do our best to get those Australians still wanting to return home back home for Christmas, but we are not going to compromise the health of those residing here now to do so.

I share the frustrations and the disappointment and the distress of those who are overseas and want to return home, and I share the frustrations and disappointment and distress of their families. But we are operating in the reality based world here. None of this is straightforward. For the opposition to pretend otherwise—that there is a magic wand which can just be waved to bring these people home—is irresponsible.

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