Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia will temporarily reduce commercial inbound passenger international arrivals by 50 per cent to ease the pressure on quarantine facilities due to the increased risks of the Delta strain of COVID-19.
Mr Morrison said the Commonwealth would facilitate international repatriation flights during the period of reduced caps and they would be channelled into Darwin for quarantine at Howard Springs.
The reduction in international arrivals was announced following a meeting of National Cabinet this morning, which agreed on a plan with four phases to transition Australia's national COVID-19 response to post-vaccination settings.
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Reducing the caps on commercial flights would "come at a cost" to the Federal Government, he said.
"This is not a costless exercise. Medicines, vaccines come in by plane. Essential freight comes in by plane," he said.
"The Commonwealth's decision to support this reduction in those commercial caps comes at a fiscal cost to Commonwealth taxpayers, but we agree that it is an important part of managing this most virulent during the course of this suppression phase."
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Mr Morrison said the caps would be in place by mid-July in order to avoid undue inconvenience to those with flights already booked.
More to come.
