Shuttered Oz becoming hermit nation, say experts

Sydney, May 18: Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended his “Fortress Australia” Covid-19 restrictions Tuesday, as experts warned that plans to keep the borders closed for another year will create a “hermit nation”.

“Everyone is keen to get back to a time that we once knew,” the conservative leader said in the face of growing calls for international borders to reopen. “The reality is we’re living this year in a pandemic that’s worse than last year.” Last March, Australia took the unprecedented step of closing its borders to foreign visitors and banning its globetrotting citizens from leaving.

That prompted the first population decline since World War I, stranded tens of thousands of Australian citizens overseas and separated hundreds of thousands of residents from family members.

But the country now has almost no community transmission and life for most is relatively normal.

And the government’s recent suggestion that borders could remain closed for another year has sparked fierce debate.

Australian Medical Association president Omar Khorshid on Tuesday warned: “Australia cannot keep its international borders closed indefinitely.” He called for improved quarantine facilities and vaccination efforts to permit borders to slowly open. “At some point, it will not be possible to justify the maintenance of border closures given their impact on lives and livelihoods,” he said.

A University of Sydney task force examining how Australia can safely reopen this week went further, warning the country “cannot continue to lock itself off from the world as a hermit nation indefinitely”.