Prime Minister Scott Morrison has closed Australia’s borders in the country’s efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“We will be resolving to move to a position where a travel ban will be placed on all non-residents, non-Australian citizens coming to Australia, and that will be in place from 9pm tomorrow evening,” Mr Morrison said today.
“For Australians, of course, they will be able to return and they will be subject, as they already are, to 14 days of isolation upon arrival back in Australia.
“Now, the reason for this decision is consistent with the decision we have a ready made on the issue and that is now we have about 80 per cent of the cases we have in Australia that either results of someone who has contracted the virus overseas or someone who has had eight direct contact with someone who has returned from overseas.”
READ MORE: Visas, tourism, citizenship to Australia in the coronavirus age
The Prime Minister has announced a travel ban on all non-residents coming to Australia. pic.twitter.com/Liqpt9etvL
— SBS News (@SBSNews) March 19, 2020
Mr Morrison thanked Qantas for working “to make sure they maintain flights from particular parts of the world that can assist Australians to return to Australia and we will be working closely with them, and those Australians who are overseas, we have been encouraging them to return to Australia.
“Those in remote parts of the world, that can prove challenging but for those in other places, it is our intention to ensure we can maintain flights to enable them to come home as soon as possible.”
The arrangement with New Zealand remains the same. “The New Zealand arrangement, in the same way as it has in the past, doesn’t apply to Australians living in New Zealand as New Zealand residents. Equally for New Zealanders living in Australia as Australian residents, these are the same rules that apply in both countries, and we have worked today to align what we’re doing and I appreciate that openness,” Mr Morrison said.
