Australian citizens and residents returning from overseas will be forced to quarantine in hotels in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19 from returning passengers in breach of existing self-isolation requirements.
On Friday, Scott Morrison announced that national cabinet had agreed on the strict new measures to apply from midnight on Saturday, with the Australian Defence Force also set to help state law enforcement increase checks on passengers who arrived before the deadline, who are supposed to self-isolate for 14 days.
Mr Morrison said the cost of the quarantining travellers in hotels and other facilities will be borne by the states and territories, with NSW expected to be the most affected.
“The greatest stress and strain will be in New South Wales because they have the highest number of [overseas] arrivals of any states and territories.”
Despite flights being slashed and travel bans in place in many countries, thousands of people continue to arrive in Australia.
The military will also be called in to help state and territory authorities enforce the self-isolation rules.
Nearly 300 people are being held at Sydney hotel Swissotel after returning on a Qantas chartered flight from Honolulu in Hawaii.
The strict quarantine measures took some of the travellers, who had already been quarantined on board a cruise ship in the US, by surprise with some complaining about “prison-like” conditions.