"Australians were told to come home in March 2020, they had their chance" - This is incorrect! Australians were told by the Federal Government to come home only if they didn't have stable employment. It was called the "shelter in place" order. Effectively if you were a tourist/backpacker, come home ASAP. A year after the ban was ordered many Australian's are now no longer in employment due to Visas running out. This is the reason why the number of Australian's seeking a return is increasing. At no time would an Aussie have followed the "shelter in place" order if they knew the Australian border months later would still not permit an ability to return home freely. 

DFAT has 40,000 registered Australians seeking a return - Airlines predict that this number is closer to 100,000 based on the number of cancelled tickets/credits they are holding for Australian's who have purchased tickets to Australia. It would further explain why the registered number seeking a return keeps increasing. 

"I'm Always Travelling, I Love Being Free" - As this lyric from Peter Allen's song states, Aussies love to travel and are some of the most fortunate people in the world to have the ability to travel and as frequently as they do. As such, prior to the pandemic, 4% of the population were residing overseas either studying or working. This is a high number and doesn't even consider those simply on a holiday. 

What's the problem with celebrities and the rich and famous coming to Australia? - It's an incredible double standard. Many celebrities and those with high finances have been given exemptions to fly into Australia. There is nothing wrong with them coming, however, they haven't just flown in on private/chartered jets they have also been given permission to bypass the Hotel Quarantine programme. Now many argue "so what's the problem they didn't take away an Aussie's ability to fly home?" Well, there are three problems with that argument. First, they are permitted to bypass the Hotel Quarantine programme, no citizen is permitted that luxury. Second, in February 2021 according to the ABS, 43% of arrivals into Australia weren't citizens or permanent residents. Third, Australians wishing to come home from so-called "hot countries" are told to stay in place and not return because they are an apparent threat to Australia, well many of these celebrities have also come from these places with no complaint? It's a double standard Australia.

​​Wait your turn to come home. There's no problem because I can book a flight for next week easily. So stop your complaining, there's no queue! - No other country has actively restricted its own citizens and permanent residents their ability to return home, even if their home country has a quarantine. Australia is the only liberal democracy in the world that has done this. Also yes, Australians can book flights to get back to Australia, however, seats are not guaranteed with a frequently changing passenger cap. Recently with Western Australia cutting their intake by 50%, many Australian's who had tickets booked to Perth have had them cancelled. When an airline cancels a passenger's tickets due to a cap, the priority is given to First/Business Class passengers who have paid the most. As such many Australians have bought multiple tickets to only have them cancelled or to be left at the airport, resulting in awaiting refunds that take weeks to process. For many that money is a matter of life or death.

Hotel Quarantine was brought in because Australian's couldn't be trusted to self-isolate at home - According to the Coate Inquiry into Victorian's failed Hotel Quarantine programme it found that the number of breaches of those who weren't adhering to their home quarantine was very small. I personally returned to Australia prior to the Hotel Quarantine and was given the opportunity to self-isolate at home. I was only contacted by Police for a "spot check" on Day 13 of 14 and they were at the wrong location. Although I declared where I would be for 14 Days with the Australian Border Force, they didn't share that information with State Authorities tasked with conducting spot checks. The system in its haste didn't give local authorities the right tools for the job. Second, at the start of the programme, there wasn't a requirement for a negative PCR test prior to boarding your flight to Australia and no testing was conducted even in Hotel Quarantine. A year later, many of these items have been corrected, Australians both at home and still abroad understand the importance of self-isolation as well. Australia is continuing with an outdated Quarantine policy that is reducing the ability to return.

Australia's Quarantine Programme is Outdated - According to the CDC they recommend, even for those who actually have tested positive to COVID, that no more than a 10 Day Quarantine is required. As such many countries have updated their policies based on an assumption that a test on arrival or the day after is what starts your 10 Day Count for a Quarantine, such as in the UK.

Hotel Quarantine is actually a threat to Australia - According to NSW Health, less than 1% of arrivals into Australia actually test positive to COVID. Considering now that Australians are required to have a negative PCR test prior to boarding the flight, cases are actually spiking in the Hotel Quarantine. Where an overwhelming amount of healthy returnees are locked in a facility with people who are actually positive. Returnees are actually getting COVID in the hotel programme and exposing staff in the hotels to it. This was evident in the Victorian Quarantine bungle and recently in Western Australia where many are testing positive either after leaving the programme or towards the end of their stays. The Coate Inquiry recommended that Home Quarantine, with sufficient monitoring, was the safest way to prevent COVID from being spread to those who were negative as too the staff. Yet State and Federal Authorities continue with this outdated policy.

How could we update the policy to increase returning Australians? - Even countries at the height of the pandemic quickly implemented policies that kept them safe and didn't restrict their citizens and permanent residents the ability to return home. For example, in the UAE they permitted citizens and permanent residents to return on the condition they had a negative PCR test prior to departure and agreed to another one on arrival at Dubai Airport. You were required to self-isolate until your second test result was available. If it was positive you were given strict government orders to remain at home for 14 days, if it was negative your self-isolation period was over. The UK now has a Home Quarantine programme (or you can choose a selected hotel) for a 10 Day Self-Isolation. The UK also offers a 5 Day Quarantine if you have come from many countries, the process requires you to have three PCR tests over that five day period, if all are negative then your Quarantine is over, if any are positive then you have a full 10-day quarantine, Australia could adopt many updated policies that would at least end the strain on the Hotel Quarantine programme and in turn permit more Australians home but are failing to do so. One simple solution could be across the ditch in NZ where residents are permitted to book their spot in a Hotel Quarantine then book a flight. If you don't have a spot booked in the Quarantine then you are denied boarding. This is a quick fix that would stop Australians been left at the airport.