Coronavirus: as Australia plans border reopening, stranded citizens wait with anxiety, trepidation
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to ease strict controls on overseas citizens returning home within weeks and to cut quarantine for those who have been vaccinated to seven days at home – rather than 14 at a hotel
- But with promises of being able to return home for Christmas 2020 still ringing in their ears, many stranded Australians dare not hope the ordeal is over
The Sydney native, who lives in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, is wary of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s pledge to ease strict controls on overseas citizens returning home within weeks. She has already missed Christmas, her daughter’s graduation and her in-laws’ 90th birthdays.
“There are no details behind the announcement,” Bradwell said, referring to plans unveiled last week to drop a cap on returning citizens and allow those who are vaccinated to serve seven days of quarantine at home instead of 14 days at a hotel.
“What does home quarantine involve? If you don’t have a home to go to, can it be an Airbnb? There is also the added complication of [state] border closures. Most of our family is in Sydney but our daughter is in Melbourne. So, if we go home we are likely to be forced to make a choice between our parents and our daughter.”
Bradwell doubts many overseas Australians will be able to get home for Christmas as uncertainty around the government’s plans has made it difficult, if not impossible, to secure flights.
