The Australian government will introduce penalties including fines and jail time for anyone who tries to return home from India, with treasurer Josh Frydenberg defending the moves as “drastic” but needed.
The move comes after two Australian cricketers who had been in India returned home on Thursday after transiting through Qatar, despite the government earlier in the week banning all direct flights from Covid-ravaged India.
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, announced the strengthening of border controls late on Friday night, saying that anyone who attempted to defy the rules would be hit with fines of up to $66,600 or five years in prison, or both.
The government does not make these decisions lightly,” he said. “However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level.”
The measure will be in effect from Monday and will be reviewed on 15 May.
Hunt invoked powers under the Biosecurity Act to introduce the measures, the same act used to close the borders.
On Saturday morning, the treasurer denied it was “irresponsible” to leave Australians stranded in India when the country was running out of oxygen.
“We have taken drastic action to keep Australians safe, and what we face in India is a very serious situation where the medical advice provided to the federal government has been to put in place these strict measures,” Frydenberg said. “We’ve acted on the medical advice.
