All international travelers will be quarantined in hotels or designated facilities

[trevella]

I personally think the AFL payers in Queensland should all be fitted with them too. What’s good for the goose....

They should be used to being closely tagged anyway.

 

[Pushka]

I personally think the AFL payers in Queensland should all be fitted with them too. What’s good for the goose....

Shackle them permanently I say.

 

[ethernet]

I think in these PC days someone has decided it is improper to discriminate or enforce just restrictions on returnees, or make value judgements who is likely not to give trouble. The non-troublemakers can subsidize the others with special needs/feral tendencies. Hence quarantine persons had the right to refuse testing.

Yes, lots of empty hotel rooms, and lots of vacant apartments, all getting negative gearing benefits.
I have not seen an ad like Queensland: Quarantine with us first 2 weeks free, next two weeks at last years low season price. Yeah, better we kill off that segment, who needs jobs, tourism or airlines.
Victoria had a good racket with overseas education and universities. I wonder how solid that will be, going forward. 3rd tier lesser universities will have the most to loose. Plan to re-boot education - nope (rhymes with dope). My bet is some universities will be bought cheap by the Chinese when the vaccine news is 'delayed - not very effective', unsuitable for some.
Achievement's worthy of the Iron Pyrites' Golden Galah award :-
dismantle steel industry, dismantle car industry, Dismantle oil refinery, destroy local gas energy advantage, Drain 21 Billion from Super, sell off poles and wire, Wheat Rust, Banana TR4 , Prawn white spot, Covid Virus ball for the new made in Australia logo, and two years of covid sit-down-and-shut-up jobkeeper payments - because there will be no snapback . The landlord/eviction freeze must also come to an end - interesting times ahead. Paul Keating would be just the man to nominate who deserves these prestigious awards.

 

[suze2000]

Pretty sure most of the blame for the above should be laid at the feet of Howard and the LNP

 

[antycbr]

As a NSW resident, I'm getting tired of having all of these people from interstate using our hotel quarantine. My view is that if you want to come back to your state of residence (wherever that is) you must be quarantined in that state. Our hotels are for our people. If you can't get back, tough luck take it up with your Premier who appear to be acting as if they are running sovereign countries anyway.

 

[Pushka]

As a NSW resident, I'm getting tired of having all of these people from interstate using our hotel quarantine. My view is that if you want to come back to your state of residence (wherever that is) you must be quarantined in that state. Our hotels are for our people. If you can't get back, tough luck take it up with your Premier who appear to be acting as if they are running sovereign countries anyway.

Understand the philosophy there but even before covid there were very few international flights into Adelaide and now there are only two and even those are just a couple of days a week. SA would be my preferred entry point if I needed it, and not Sydney. Im guessing this is an anti Vic anti Qld post?

 

[jakeseven7]

As a NSW resident, I'm getting tired of having all of these people from interstate using our hotel quarantine. My view is that if you want to come back to your state of residence (wherever that is) you must be quarantined in that state. Our hotels are for our people. If you can't get back, tough luck take it up with your Premier who appear to be acting as if they are running sovereign countries anyway.

I don’t like how you sound like our contentious QLD premier But do understand your sentiment.

The lazy states sitting round doing sweet nothing, with zero/barely any cases honestly should be doing more to help NSW and VIC out and this could be one great way to assist.

Tasmania for example has been bleating for international flights for decades. Have some! Help out a little. SA,WA - want your QFi flights back, put your hands up and volunteer to help process Australians desperate to get home.

 

[Pushka]

Tasmania for example has been bleating for international flights for decades. Have some! Help out a little. SA,WA - want your QFi flights back, put your hands up and volunteer to help process Australians desperate to get home.

SA just extended the numbers that can come here into Quarantine. We just need the flights. Qantas will never fly here again internationally so we are dependent on overseas airlines, like Qatar and SQ. MH just pulled out of Adelaide. Again.

 

[dajop]

As a NSW resident, I'm getting tired of having all of these people from interstate using our hotel quarantine. My view is that if you want to come back to your state of residence (wherever that is) you must be quarantined in that state. Our hotels are for our people. If you can't get back, tough luck take it up with your Premier who appear to be acting as if they are running sovereign countries anyway.

Look on the upside - Sydney has lots of hotels, and also usually attracts the biggest number of international tourists and business travellers, so the quarantine program is now helping maintain a level of economic activity in the accommodation sector that otherwise would be absent. The program seems to be well managed (I was reading a review by another AFF member on the weekend who indicated no access to fresh air which ticks an important box for minimising risk) and now people are beginning to pay for it themselves - the NSW government will slowly stop paying for people using the quarantine hotels there.

That aside I hate how this pandemic has broken in Australia into a set of warring tribes. “Our hotels for our people”. .... are we no longer all Australians? Whatever happened to compassion for fellow Australians?

 

[jakeseven7]

That aside I hate how this pandemic has broken in Australia into a set of warring tribes. “Our hotels for our people”. .... are we no longer all Australians? Whatever happened to compassion for fellow Australians?

Agree its horrific but to defend the @antycbr it seems like a momentary brain blip as they have been very supportive of an open, one national approach previously...

Perhaps the words weren't great but its sometimes hard seeing the other state administrations sitting back doing a lot of pointing and criticizing whilst doing not much at all to actually help, trumpeting how well they are doing when they had barely any cases to manage, ever - so they haven't even been tested.

 

[antycbr]

Agree its horrific but to defend the @antycbr it seems like a momentary brain blip as they have been very supportive of an open, one national approach previously...

Perhaps the words weren't great but its sometimes hard seeing the other state administrations sitting back doing a lot of pointing and criticizing whilst doing not much at all to actually help, trumpeting how well they are doing when they had barely any cases to manage, ever - so they haven't even been tested.

It's tongue in cheek guys - but there is an element of seriousness to my point about freeloading on the hard work of others.

 

[p--and--t]

“Our hotels for our people”

Sounds like one word different to a certain Premier.

I guess we should be keeping these "people" of out Sydney hotels because they have hordes of overseas tourists queuing up to use them and the accommodation sector is currently overrun with occupancy and knocking back bookings.........oh wait

 

[Seat0B]

Yes I have to say I don;t really understand why quarantine capacity is limited, especially as people are paying the costs themselves now, not the government. According to everything I read, there is a lot of "under-occupancy" in the hotel sector everywhere. So is the real issue the availability of guards? In which case, there are a lot of unemployed people who might want the work, and many would have complimentary skill sets, or electronic measures. I must be missing something.

 

[Pushka]

Yes I have to say I don;t really understand why quarantine capacity is limited, especially as people are paying the costs themselves now, not the government. According to everything I read, there is a lot of "under-occupancy" in the hotel sector everywhere. So is the real issue the availability of guards? In which case, there are a lot of unemployed people who might want the work, and many would have complimentary skill sets, or electronic measures. I must be missing something.

Only as long as they are properly trained in infection control. Using the unskilled unemployed is what got Victoria into the second wave.

 

[p--and--t]

Only as long as they are properly trained in infection control. Using the unskilled unemployed is what got Victoria into the second wave.

One would hope (maybe I'm delusional) all such establishments in all states would have have by now worked out that that's what they need to do to run their businesses in a "covid-normal" environment.

However my presumption is we are always going to have outbreaks given what is happening ongoing everyday in hospitals who should be on top of all that. (and saving money by businesses will always come to top of mind before anything else)

 

[Pushka]

One would hope (maybe I'm delusional) all such establishments in all states would have have by now worked out that that's what they need to do to run their businesses in a "covid-normal" environment.

However my presumption is we are always going to have outbreaks given what is happening ongoing everyday in hospitals who should be on top of all that. (and saving money by businesses will always come to top of mind before anything else)

Agree. There will be outbreaks. But they can seemingly be managed with testing tracing and isolation. And distancing will reduce the risk.

 

[Himeno]

Only a country like Australia could create a quarantine bottleneck during a pandemic where the international borders are closed thus ABF and Immigration staff have nothing to do, aircraft are still flying but mostly empty of passengers which makes airlines unsustainable and endangers the freight and makes trade more difficult, testing of people in quarantine has been "hit and miss", have juvenille "turf wars" about which department and government is responsible for what and there are thousands of empty hotel rooms, and lots of unemployed hospitality staff, and thats before you even consider the other possible alternatives of home isolation, more directed testing and advanced spatial tracking/location technology that have all been conveniently ignored for an 18th century quarantine solution rolled out in the 21st century.

If they only required people who can't/won't self isolate at home to stay in these hotels, they wouldn't have a problem.

 

[Himeno]

I don't really get the angst with the bracelet - if it let me stay at home rather than stuck in a hotel room, I'd do it.

Provided there was a usable internet connection in the hotel room, I'd be happy to stay at the hotel. If the government was paying for the hotel as they would be the ones demanding that I go there.
The moment the demand I pay for the hotel that they force me to use, is the moment I won't be staying in the hotel and would want to stay at home.

If other countries are able to track people and confirm they are where they are meant to be (ie, staying at home while in isolation), there is no reason Australia can not.

 

[p--and--t]

If they only required people who can't/won't self isolate at home to stay in these hotels, they wouldn't have a problem.

I have also had thoughts along those lines many times. Wondered whether that had been implemented anywhere else in the world during this pandemic.

Pros: Potentially could stop any pandemic in its tracks, "arrest" and quarantine anyone with a suspected infection until they are well. Economy could chug along as per normal

Cons: It would be significantly more expensive than leaving people to survive on their own money in their own homes. Testing is coming up with far too many false positives. Civil liberties. Adequate resources and staffing to manage such a program. Damage to electoral chances. Mental health issues. Potential legal action for false detention if subsequent testing showed negative. Potential mass civil disobedience and resistance to admit symptoms/get tested.

 

[love_the_life]

If they only required people who can't/won't self isolate at home to stay in these hotels, they wouldn't have a problem.

Anecdotally I have heard of a person returning from a posting in the UK(?) who has been given permission to fly into Sydney with the family and drive through to CBR and quarantine at home. My source is pretty reliable usually.