Border backlog plan

THE Federal Government is set to reopen the Howard Springs quarantine facility near Darwin as part of a plan to help repatriate some of the tens of thousands of Australians trying to get home.

Arrangements would see the Northern Territory’s inbound passenger caps lifted, with a mixture of commercial and charter flights to fly into the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin and passengers then taken to the facility for 14 days of mandatory quarantine.

The ABC unveiled the move yesterday, suggesting Qantas would operate a total of eight services as part of the plan - four from London and four from India.

The Boeing 787 flights would be underwritten by the Australian Government, with fares from London costing about $2,000 per person and around $1,000 for the flights from India.

More than 38,000 Australians have registered their presence overseas with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and almost 30,000 of them say they wish to come home.

It’s understood that passengers will be classified on the basis of vulnerability, with family circumstances, financial situation and health taken into account.

The Govt is also understood to be close to announcing an increase in the inbound flight caps for the states and territories, to further assist people wanting to get back to Australia.

Existing quarantine arrangements would remain in place, it’s believed, with Deputy PM Michael McCormack noting there were “plenty of hotel rooms” available to be “filled with returning Australians”.