Two-month wait to return home

A HUON Valley couple have been stranded in Sydney for two months and have just been told they must wait even longer because of a lack of quarantine hotel spaces.

Michael Gregory and Susanne Heuberger (pictured) had their G2G applications rejected this week, being told via email there were no quarantine beds left in Tasmania.

They were encouraged to reapply for a G2G pass at a later date, but given no indication of how long they could expect to be waiting in limbo.

Mrs Heuberger said she was completely baffled as to why the government had not set aside more quarantine hotels for people wanting to return home.

“They said we’ve filled in everything properly and attached the necessary documentation, but there are now no quarantine beds, which amazes me,” she said.

“I’m starting to get a bit angry. You can’t speak to anybody. You’re not allowed into your own state.”

Mr Gregory said they had even called Premier Peter Gutwein’s office for help in an act of desperation, but were told to send their query to a separate department’s email address.

While waiting for a response, they are staying cooped up in an Airbnb room in Sydney, only leaving their room for one hour per day for exercise.

Mr Gregory said it was not the retirement holiday they had planned, having initially set out in a campervan to explore the mainland in April.

But he said things could be worse and at least they were together. “There must be dozens, if not hundreds of people like myself,” he said.