An Announcement to Make an Announcement – but Still No Plan for Stranded Australians

04 September 2020

The number of Australians stranded overseas is rising everyday but there is still no plan from the Morrison Government to help them return home – only spin and empty announcements.

Today Scott Morrison made an announcement that he might make another announcement in the future - ignoring the urgent need faced by 23,000 stranded Australians.

By the Government’s own numbers, 3,450 of those stranded overseas are considered financially or medically vulnerable.

Mr Morrison conceded there is a need to “boost the capacity for inbound arrivals into Australia” but did not give a timeframe for when there would be a plan to meet that need.

Two months ago Mr Morrison rushed to make an announcement on caps for incoming passengers.

Two weeks ago Mr Morrison announced he had asked senior ministers for “ideas” to support stranded Australians.

Today Mr Morrison announced the Transport Minister would discuss the issue with the states ahead of a future announcement.

How much longer will the tens of thousands of Australians stranded overseas have to wait for an announcement to turn into action to get them home?

Labor is again calling on the Morrison Government to take urgent action to stop airlines price gouging, increase quarantine capacity and put all options on the table to repatriate stranded Australians.

 

Authorised by Paul Erickson, ALP, Canberra.