Morrison held a press conference in Canberra. (Photo of Desk 9)
Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison Morrison, today unveiled a series of new measures to liberalize domestic travel restrictions and responded to the problem of Australian and foreign students returning from overseas.
During today's cabinet meeting, mr morrison said leader in other states and territories, except western australia, had agreed on a framework for reopening the country. The Cabinet also agreed to take public health measures to ensure that states and territories remain open by 2021.
"This is a plan to open Australia before Christmas, except Western Australia. The plan includes public health standards to ensure that we remain safe and open when we open safely. This is crucial. "
Morrison said the newly reopened states and territories could draw lessons from the new states, which in recent months have been "well fought ".
However, the prime minister added that Australians should also agree that registration, social distance and compliance with the new crown epidemic safety measures have become the new normal in life.
"Our task is to re-open safely first and then to remain safe and open. Maintaining a safe and open environment will give confidence to businesses, workers, and those who are making decisions about their future and future plans. "
Prior to the new agreement reached by the National Cabinet, South Australia had confirmed that it would reopen the border with Victoria from 1 December. Queensland Governor Palazuk (Annastacia Palaszzuk) also announced a major adjustment to the state's new crown limit, raising the number of parties, but has not yet officially announced when to relax the border restrictions on Sydney and Victoria.
Delay in Return of Overseas Students to Australia
The plan for returning overseas students to Australia was postponed. (Photo of Sydney Morning Herald)
Since the outbreak, more than 400,000 Australians have returned home, but 30,000 remain overseas.
Morrison said today that the list of people who want to return continues to expand, given the worsening conditions in the northern hemisphere as it enters winter.
He stressed that the country's first priority is to return Australians, which means it is unlikely to launch a pilot program to bring overseas students back to Australia this year.
"What is frustrating at the moment is that we hope to go further on this issue at the moment, but the fact is that there are still many Australians at a disadvantage who are seeking to go home. This must be given priority and I am sure the university will understand. "
An increase of 150 places in Queensland for returning Australians
In an effort to get more Australians back home, Morrison also announced that Queensland would increase the number of Australians returning from overseas by 150 a day. At the same time, the maximum number of people will be calculated in one week rather than in days, thus enhancing flexibility.
"By taking the week as a unit, we can make more use of the quota, thereby increasing our capacity to return more Australians. we will continue to seek additional capacity whenever possible. "People are in line, and Australians are at the top ," the prime minister said. "
Victoria prepares to resume international flights
While the state maintained "zero growth" in new-crowned confirmed cases for the 14th consecutive day, morrison said melbourne was also planning to resume international flights.
"When I go to Melbourne next week, I will meet with the Governor of Victoria. We will have the opportunity to discuss this, and I know that they have made progress on these issues. he circulate a notice us some related new situation this morning, but they still can not issue news. "
"The opening of Victoria to receive these flights will help us bring more Australians back. "
