Parliament petitions

THE need for Australians to visit family and friends overseas featured prominently in 12 separate petitions presented to the Federal House of Reps this week, all arguing for a clearer pathway to international travel.

Among the demands listed were the lifting of incoming arrival caps for relatives living overseas to visit, creating dedicated quarantine facilities to cater for higher volumes of travellers, setting specific dates for reopening borders based on vaccine coverage, and mandating easier terms for fully vaccinated Australians returning from overseas, such as two days in hotel quarantine and a follow-up COVID test after a short period of home isolation.

Mental health concerns were also cited by most petitions as a primary driver to draw up a clearer road map to easing border restrictions, with missing family proposed as the major cause.