Travellers hit with $ 480k bill for hotel quarantine stays

MORE than 180 travellers have been sent bills for their stays in Tasmania’s quarantine hotels.

The state government has started sending invoices to people for their 14- day stints in quarantine, a move implemented to minimise the risk of coronavirus spreading.

The combined cost of those invoices totals $ 483,400.

The policy was in place from July 31, with all non- essential travellers arriving in Tasmania who were required to quarantine in hotels charged at an individual rate of $ 2800.

Couples were billed at a rate of $ 3800 and families with children up to a maximum of $ 4800. The fee includes meals. Before that, the state government paid the bill for all travellers’ stays.

People were directed to stay in hotel quarantine if they were deemed non- essential travellers and could not do their quarantine at a Tasmanian residence.

A Department of Communities spokesman said invoices were sent out from October 20, with 183 people being billed so far.

Forty- three travellers have applied for financial assistance relating to their hotel quarantine bills, with 27 of the applications being approved.

On Monday, Tasmania’s borders reopened to Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory.

As of Friday, there was a total of 417 people in hotel quarantine at nine hotels across Tasmania — three each in the South, North and North- West of the state.

As at September 30, the state government had spent $ 20.5m on its hotel quarantine policy, including security and transport costs. Last month, the government advertised for the recruitment of two new highly- paid site manager roles to oversee the quarantine hotels.

One would be responsible for hotels in the North and North- West, and the other for facilities in the South, with an annual salary range of between $ 92,000 and $ 105,000.