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- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia will reopen its international border in November, initially starting in Sydney
- The rule is every state must have an 80 per cent vaccination rate and each state will have its own rules on international travelling
- Victoria, the ACT and the SA plan on following NSW and are open for international travel
- However, Queensland, WA, the NT and Tasmania want higher vaccination rates and to sort out interstate travel rules before moving internationally
- Nothing is stopping these citizens to go to Sydney to travel overseas but getting back into their home state might be an issue
Australia plans to lift its international travel ban but a few state leaders disagree, saying it’s too early to open up the country.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday that he plans to reopen the borders after 18 months of them being.
It’s expected the border will open in November, initially in New South Wales.
However, the border will only be open once the 80 per cent vaccination target is reached and each state will have their own rules.
NSW will be the first state to reach this target, which is expected in a few weeks.
Those who decide to go overseas will have to quarantine when they get back to NSW. The fully vaccinated will undertake one week quarantine instead of paying for two weeks’ quarantine in a hotel.
What are the rules for each state?
Victoria
Victoria is expected to reach its 80 per cent double-dosed target by around November 8, about three weeks after NSW.
Premier Daniel Andrews has welcomed Mr Morrison’s decision, following Melbourne being labelled as the world’s most locked down city.
“New South Wales and Victoria will not only be open to each other and open internally, we’ll be open to the world. And I think that’s a very, very good thing,” Mr Andrews said.
Queensland
Queensland is expected to reach the 80 per cent vaccination threshold around December 3. However Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said there was no rush to open the borders.
On Friday the Premier said she was disappointed that Mr Morrison hadn’t told her or briefed the National Cabinet ahead of this announcement.
It would be irresponsible, and I think Queenslanders would expect me to see some paperwork to understand the issues before an announcement is made,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
When asked about people in Sydney who might be choosing Europe instead of Cairns, Ms Palaszczuk said that the “people in Sydney are in lockdown”.
“I think that the last thing that they would want is a massive outbreak of Delta in Cairns. Then they would be in lockdown.”
The next question was if Queensland borders would be open by Christmas, to which the Premier said: “I don’t have a crystal ball”.
“I would love people to be able to travel but we will do so when it is safe. If it is unsafe, it will not happen. So we’ll do it when it is safe,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
She said reopening the domestic border would need high vaccination rates, plans for children who were unvaccinated and hospital capacity management.
Western Australia
West Australians will also be waiting a little longer for international travel.
The state is expecting to reach 80 per cent vaccinations around December 11, however the hard border will most likely remain in place for some time.
Premier Mark McGowan said he would allow international borders to open only once the state reached 80 to 90 per cent vaccination.
This essentially means people from other states such as NSW and Victoria could fly to Paris before Perth.
Mr McGowan said people could fly to Sydney and then out of the country, but they may not be allowed back into WA.
“My advice would be don’t do that unless you want to spend a lot of time in Paris or NSW,” he said
“Western Australia will open up internationally at some point in time and it’s probably just a difference of months between us and other states, in particular Victoria and NSW.
“If that means in the interim we don’t have mass deaths, we don’t have huge dislocation in our economy, we don’t have lots of people losing their jobs, well then I think the choice is clear.”
Additionally, Qantas has announced it will delay introducing more flights between Perth and Sydney and Melbourne, as well as delaying the Perth to London route, due to WA’s border restrictions.
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory Government said it would also not be signing onto Mr Morrison’s plan anytime soon.
The state is expected to reach its 80 per cent target just before Christmas on December 24.
However, Qantas has already shown its interest in redirecting its London service through Darwin, where the state will be a refuelling spot.
If this does happen, passengers on the plane will not be able to board or disembark from the aircraft.
Tasmania
Tasmania’s Premier Peter Gutwein said he would hold off from opening the state’s borders until 90 per cent of its population was fully vaccinated. Currently, the state is expected to reach 80 per cent by November 8.
Mr Gutwein said he could not stop Tasmanians from travelling overseas but said rules for when they arrived back were still being navigated.
Australian Capital Territory
The ACT is expected to reach 80 per cent double-dosed target by October 18 and will be joining its neighbour in overseas flights.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr has previously stated that he is expecting travel between ACT, NSW and Victoria around December 1.
South Australia
South Australia is expecting to reach its vaccine target by December 1.
Premier Steven Marshall has said the state will move from statewide border restrictions to localised responses once SA reaches the vaccine target.
Mr Morrison said that “it’s time to give Australians their lives back”.
While travel will not immediately be open to foreigners, the government said it would work “towards welcoming tourists back to our shores”.
