Scott Morrison supports making returned travellers pay for their own quarantine


Scott Morrison supports making returned travellers pay for their own quarantine as he plans to reduce the number landing in Australia

  • Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan wants people to pay for quarantine  
  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today that was ‘completely understandable’
  • He also supported Premier Daniel Andrews’ decision to lock down Melbourne

Scott Morrison has supported states making returned travellers pay for their own hotel quarantine.

The Prime Minister said state governments were ‘within their rights’ to send people the bill and that he is making plans to reduce the number of people flying home to ease pressure on the quarantine system.

On Monday Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan said he was drafting legislation to make returned travellers pay for two weeks of accommodation to save taxpayer money.

Mr Morrison said: ‘I think that would be a completely understandable proposition.

‘There have been many opportunities for people to return… if they’re choosing to do so now, they have obviously delayed that decision for a period.’  

Scott Morrison has supported states making returned travellers pay for their own quarantine

Melbourne was gripped by panic buying on Wednesday as residents prepare for six weeks of lock down from midnight

Melbourne was gripped by panic buying on Wednesday as residents prepare for six weeks of lock down from midnight

A woman carries several packets of loo roll out of  a Melbourne supermarket

A man carries two crates of beer to his car ahead of lock down

Left: A woman carries several packets of loo roll out of a Melbourne supermarket. Right: A man carries two crates of beer to his car ahead of lock down

Mr Morrison said he supported Premier Daniel Andrews’ decision to lock down Melbourne for six weeks as the city battles a coronavirus outbreak.

In a message of unity, he said: ‘We are all Victorians now.’

‘We’re all Melburnians now when it comes to the challenges we face. We’re all Victorians now because we’re all Australians and that’s where the challenge is right now,’ Mr Morrison said.

‘It is a very significant Commonwealth effort to support what is happening in Victoria right now and we will prevail and we will get on top of it and we will protect the rest of the country.

‘For the people, in particular, of Melbourne – this is hard. This is a hard call on you. It’s tough. 

‘And it will test you and it will strain, but you have done it once before and you will be able to do it again because you have proven that. You have demonstrated your ability to deal with this.’ 

Victoria reported 134 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday morning.

Stripped: Shelves were left bare as Melbourne residents stocked up on food before lock down starts at midnight

Stripped: Shelves were left bare as Melbourne residents stocked up on food before lock down starts at midnight

Victoria has recorded 134 new cases of coronavirus as the state battles a huge outbreak and the whole of Melbourne braces for a six-week lockdown from midnight

Victoria has recorded 134 new cases of coronavirus as the state battles a huge outbreak and the whole of Melbourne braces for a six-week lockdown from midnight

Premier Daniel Andrews said there are now 75 cases of the deadly disease across nine social housing towers in north Melbourne which have been placed under hard lockdown, confining 3,000 residents to their homes.

Forty-one people are in hospital with seven fighting for their lives as the state’s testing total passed 1million with 30,000 swabs on Tuesday.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian today warned the risk of contagion in her state was ‘extremely high’ after 60,000 exemptions were granted for commuters to enter from Victoria following the first border shut down since Spanish Flu in 1919.

She is considering sealing off border towns from the rest of the state which suffered two cases of local transmission including a Melbourne teenager on holiday in Merimbula and a woman in south-west Sydney whose case remains a mystery. 

It comes as Melbourne is gripped by panic buying as residents rush to stock up on food, booze and loo paper before they are ordered to stay at home from tonight until August 19. 

A Service NSW spokesperson said the permit application system had experienced high levels of demand, causing it to crash this morning. Pictured: Queues to get in to Albury

A Service NSW spokesperson said the permit application system had experienced high levels of demand, causing it to crash this morning. Pictured: Queues to get in to Albury

A long wait: Australians braved 40-minute traffic queues to get to work this morning on the first day the New South Wales-Victoria border closed due to a huge coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne

A long wait: Australians braved 40-minute traffic queues to get to work this morning on the first day the New South Wales-Victoria border closed due to a huge coronavirus outbreak in Melbourne

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