Border crossing rife with pitfalls

THE pitfalls of fast-changing cross-border quarantine arrangements have proved a major headache for a Hobart man just trying to get to work.

Glenn Batchelor, of Sandy Bay, is a geotechnical operator who works aboard survey ships and is heading to his next job in New Jersey, in the United States.

Having obtained an exemption as an essential worker to travel overseas, taken a COVID-19 test, and checked with his airline and health authorities, Mr Batchelor stopped over in Melbourne on the way to meet his international flight in Sydney. While changing flights he left the airport building to walk the hundred or so metres to the Qantas terminal.

That short walk earned him the ire of NSW police officers on his arrival in Sydney, putting at risk his travel plans and his job.

“They said, ‘You’ve got to isolate’,” he said. “They weren’t willing to listen.

“They marched me out of the airport and sent me to a hotel.”

An all-night session of emailing public health officials and politicians earned Mr Batchelor an early release, of a sort.

“They said we’re sorry, everything was rushed and poorly planned, and it wasn’t meant to capture people like me,” he said.

While still in isolation on Friday, he was hoping to board his flight to the US today.