Delay on cards for returning Aussies

AUSTRALIANS returning from overseas may face delays or denied entry as the Morrison Government seeks to stop the hotel quarantine system from being overwhelmed.

The move comes after holes in Victoria’s system were blamed for helping spread a second wave of infections and state governments started baulking at paying for hotel quarantines.

Scott Morrison revealed he would take a plan to contain international arrivals to National Cabinet on Friday and said he would have “no objection” to states billing people for their 14-day hotel stays.

“There’s been many opportunities for people to return,” the Prime Minister said.

“If they’re choosing to do so now, they have obviously delayed that decision for a period.”

Mr Morrison said the spike in community transmissions in Victoria showed there were “no guarantees in a global pandemic” and welcomed the state’s move to effectively “self isolate” from the rest of the country.

Victoria recorded 134 new infections yesterday as about five million residents were placed under stage three restrictions from midnight, just a day after the state’s border with NSW closed for the first time in 100 years.

“This is about Victoria isolating itself, not other states shutting themselves off from Victoria and there is a key difference in that,” Mr Morrison said.

The Prime Minister urged the other states and territories not to close their borders in response to the Victorian spike and said there were no plans or health advice to reimpose national restrictions.