The Federal Government is pushing states and territories to boost their combined hotel quarantine capacity by 50 per cent, to allow more Australians stuck overseas to return home.
The Deputy Prime Minister is calling on states and territories to increase their hotel quarantine capacityLabor is keeping up pressure on the Government to introduce federal quarantine arrangements
Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has written to state and territory leaders requesting that the cap on international arrivals, which currently sits at about 4,000 people per week, be raised to 6,000 per week. He wants to see NSW, Queensland and Western Australia each take an additional 500 incoming passengers per week, while South Australia has been asked to increase its capacity by 360 quarantine beds per week.
Mr McCormack said he had also written to the leaders of Tasmania, the ACT and the NT, to gauge their ability to take on more international arrivals. "Those letters are telling them that's what they in fact need to do, and I've had discussions with them," he said."There's plenty of empty hotel rooms in these capital cities, and I want them filled with returning Australians.
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