PM to renew push to reopen country by Christmas

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison will again push for a reopening of the country by Christmas, when the National Cabinet meets again on Friday.

An update of the hotel quarantine review is also expected to be revealed and discussed at the meeting.

There will be an update on the progress of getting Australians home from overseas, as one of eight special repatriation flights touches down in Darwin on Friday.

It follows the meeting with the state premiers last week being cancelled after the PM’s RAAF plane broke down in north Queensland, while the regular roundtable had already been delayed due to federal budget preparations.

A “national reopening” will be high on the agenda as the leaders meet, with Mr Morrison expected to again push for a reopening of state borders by Christmas – should health requirements allow.

The plan would involve an agreed road map with the states and a national definition of a hotspot.

The Business Council of Australia on Thursday urged the National Cabinet to come up with a plan to reopen in December, releasing modelling which showed state border closures were costing the economy $69m a day.

Meanwhile, the first Qantas plane carrying 175 passengers bound for Darwin from London is expected to touch down on Friday.

They will be taken to a facility at Howard Springs on the city’s outskirts for two weeks.

Eight repatriation flights were arranged to return home just over 1300 vulnerable Australians who had been stranded overseas.

There are about 30,000 Australians still stuck overseas seeking to return home while international borders remain shut.

Flights were arranged from London, New Delhi and Johannesburg.