Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts has slammed the former Coalition government for not 'foreseeing' the surge in passport applications when international borders reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia's international borders were closed for almost two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than two million national passports expiring during that time.
“We should have had a government that was foreseeing this, planning for it, putting the staff on and getting ready for the surge so we didn’t have the enormous backlog that has been building since early this year,” he told Sky News Australia on Tuesday. He said the Australian passport office usually saw between 7,000 and 9,000 applications before the pandemic but was now regularly receiving more than 16,000 applications a day.
“We are putting people into the Australian passport office as soon as we can find them and train them up,” he said.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Post-pandemic emissions spike puts new focus on transport, exportsChris Bowen is blaming the former government for obscuring its carbon emissions performance behind COVID and drought.
Read more »
Marles leaves door open to nuclear subs by 2030Richard Marles has blamed the former government for a potential “very significant” submarine capability gap as he refuses to rule out securing nuclear-powered boats by 2030.
Read more »
Labor blames Coalition ‘failure’ for Australia’s increased emissions in 2021Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions grew in 2021 by 0.8 per cent with the Albanese government accusing the Coalition of previously relying on the COVID-19 pandemic and drought for emission reductions.
Read more »
John Barilaro approached former NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay about trade role in IndiaExclusive: The NSW government has insisted the public service, not ministers, were responsible for the appointments
Read more »
The power behind the PM – who are Labor’s powerbrokers in government?Who are the people who wield power behind the scenes in the Albanese government?
Read more »
Teals eye Labor seats, saying Albanese deliberately funded them to failMonique Ryan, who unseated former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong, warns that a second wave of independents could target Labor seats. | EXCLUSIVE by jamesmassola auspol
Read more »