Australia, largely free of COVID-19, in no hurry to reopen borders: PM

@Fuzzy

Do you really believe border closures may become permanent? Seriously?

Probably I misspoke, since I do beleive that eventually they will have to open, but restrictions and the way travelers will be treated will be mostly permanent.

Also, Australia and NZ are in a conundrum, since they were able to remain mostly without widespread thanks to border closures, as this virus is not going away in any future, the moment they open, even with vaccines, there will be some sort of outbreak unless they continue indefinitely with very strict measures.

As I said before, for people who have International lives this is pure torture, but sadly no one really cares about those people, not even some in the same situation.

I bet the entire travel and tourism industries disagree. Certainly they miss the international travelers.

Peter14

Probably because of the people like you who would scream about short term loss of liberty in order to accomplish the task.

"Short term"? Has this "short term" not dragged out for 1 1/2 years now, with terrible consequences for the financial and health situation for many people? When does "short term" finally turn into "long term" in your mind?

@Proper Science

Do you really believe border closures may become permanent? Seriously? Travel will no doubt be complicated for the foreseeable future, but to think Aus will permanently cut itself off from the world is pure fantasy.

We’ve been very fortunate down here compared to other countries in the world, and most people, despite the inconveniences, accepted the lockdowns which reduced transmission in the community.

Now now GBR48, don’t be so bleak. Hopefully the world will slowly get back to normal over the next 18-24 months or so.

Hang in there everyone

The future is North Korean. No one in, no one out.

It's discouraging looking at comments from people who supposedly are international citizens cheering border closures that could become permanent.

There are people who are still stranded because of this policy, and anyone who has family or friends on other countries have become irrelevant to the eyes of those who push for these policies.

I wonder at the 'negative' responses? Who can find something wrong with this?

Call the antivirus measures draconian if you like. The statistics speak for themselves. Australia is pretty much virus free. It is only the international borders that remain closed. Australia currently has its own domestic ‘Go To’ campaign with cheap airfares and no restrictions.

Well played. So many people gave them crap for their "draconian" response that "stripped them of their freedoms". But looks like going hard early has paid off. All the while they are steadily vaccinating those most in need. Who has real freedom now?

Imagine living in a country where the Gov't cares about the wellbeing of their citizens.

A country that knows what it's doing.

Imagine if the Olympics was due to be held in Sydney... do you think that it would be going ahead?

ZaphodToday 02:45 pm JST

Why not mandate that we all live like Bubble Boy, eliminating this and other viruses completely. Heureka, victory.

Probably because of the people like you who would scream about short term loss of liberty in order to accomplish the task.

@spinningplates and Peter14

Yes. Superb job by Australia. Credit where it’s due.

Sad to see some peevish types can’t bring themselves to give credit where it’s due. Sad.

Australia, largely free of COVID-19, in no hurry to reopen borders: PM

Why not mandate that we all live like Bubble Boy, eliminating this and other viruses completely. Heureka, victory.

Can Japan learn from Australia?

"Australia, largely free of COVID-19, in no hurry to reopen borders: PM"

no wonder why Australia has a few of its cities on the Top list of most livable cities in the world every single year

Why live with Covid in the community, when you can live without it? Life is back to normal in Australia.

All shops are open and operating. Economy is booming again with one exception being International tourism.

Vaccinations are rolling out and by the end of this year we should have a few travel bubbles in operation for international travel. I could not be happier or prouder of the way my country has dealt with this pandemic so far.

Absolutely.

the Australian Government (despite a few mis-haps) and the Australian people have done a magnificent job. They committed to short term pain, endured strict snap lock-downs and now reap the rewards; I'm watching a football games with near capacity crowds, my friends are sending pictures of fun in the Pubs.