There's something not quite right with this story; it's as if they don't understand the new process whereby they can get their exemption before they leave by furnishing the required documents, which I'm sure most working expats would have. Or is it simply they don't want to comply with Government over reach either?? Cheers bear
‘They’ve taken it way too far’: Australians living abroad fear being trapped if they return home to visit family
Expats separated from loved ones say Australia’s tightening travel rules leave them with an ‘impossible choice’
Australians living overseas say a federal government rule change that could see them trapped if they return to visit family and friends might force many to abandon trips altogether.Expats living abroad have told Guardian Australia they fear that could mean missing out on farewelling elderly relatives.
“The thing that is most cruel about this is that you’re asking people to choose between being able to see their family in Australia for the last time and possibly losing their right to live and work with other loved ones wherever they’re now living,” US-based Australian Erin Gregor said.
When I look at Australia from the US, I see an insular nation that has turned its back on its own
The federal government this week quietly expanded its ban on Australians leaving the country that has been in place since March 2020.
Citizens and permanent residents could apply for an exemption on compassionate and work grounds but certain people didn’t need one. Citizens who ordinarily lived overseas, as well as foreign nationals who had been living in Australia but were moving elsewhere, could simply pack their bags and jump on a plane.
But now, the government has tightened the rules for visiting Australians who live overseas. On 1 August, the health minister, Greg Hunt, amended a declaration to the Biosecurity Act to remove the ability for them to leave the country without an exemption.
Exit exemptions have been notoriously difficult to secure during the pandemic and the government has previously committed to being less lenient in its approvals process as quarantine spots have been reduced.
Hunt did not formally announce the change – which is set to take effect from 11 August – but after it was reported the finance minister, Simon Birmingham, defended the tightened policy as “one of the tools ... to keep a lid where possible on the number of people exiting the country in the first place”.
“So many of those exiting do seek to come back in a relatively short order,” he said.
Constitutional law experts have told the Guardian the new changes could be unconstitutional and make Australia’s tough border policy “even more draconian”.
“If you land here, you could be trapped,” Prof Kim Rubenstein from the University of Canberra said.
Australian expats living overseas separated from family believe the change will force them into making an “impossible choice” in the event of an emergency.
Australian Erin Gregor (second from left) lives with her American partner in Connecticut and has been unable to travel home to see her family throughout the pandemic.
After waking up to news about the government’s decision, Gregor “had a good cry on the phone” from the US to her parents and sister in Jervis Bay.
Gregor, who works at a health non-profit, has lived in the US since 2015. She now lives in Connecticut with her American partner. The couple had originally planned to visit Gregor’s family in March 2020 before Australia’s border shut. But conscious of the virus’s spread they cancelled their holiday to minimise the risk to her family.
“We thought things would improve,” Gregor told Guardian Australia.
They have since had other flights home cancelled as a result of Australia’s caps on arrivals progressively decreasing – forcing airlines to adjust availability and prices. They have also postponed their wedding that was scheduled for May 2020.
Gregor had hoped to see her family later this year after she managed to book an $8,000 flight home for September. But after hearing about the rule change, she cancelled her trip.
It annoys me that the government is framing this as closing a loophole that was being abused
“I can’t risk getting stuck in Australia because of green card processes. I’ve seen people denied an exemption to leave Australia to visit family on deathbeds, so I don’t have faith they’ll be sympathetic to me. If I come back to Australia I could lose the right to see my husband, because he can’t enter Australia in any way.
“There may have been a handful of wealthy people coming back and forth and abusing the system, but I haven’t been back in two and a half years, and this reaction from the government just takes it out on everyone, they’ve taken it way too far and this essentially stops us coming back to farewell a loved one.”
Gregor is worried about what she would do if there was a family emergency involving her parents and “ageing grandmother”.
Gregor, who was fully vaccinated in May, is angry celebrities have been allowed to travel in and out of Australia and furious the government is ignoring the needs of multicultural families.
“It’s un-Australian in the way it completely disregards the multiculturalism of Australia, the way we travel and fall in love overseas but still call Australia home,” she said. “This is creating an impossible choice for us.”
Daniel Stokes-McKeon moved to Hong Kong 13 years ago and has established a life in the city where he works as a financial services project manager.
‘It makes me sick’: families of Australians stranded overseas devastated after arrivals cap slashed
Australia’s border measures throughout the pandemic have been especially tough for Stokes-McKeon. Not only has he been separated from his family in Sydney but his partner also moved to the Australian city for work in February 2020 with an understanding he could visit relatively easily.
He has managed to travel to see his partner once during the pandemic – in December – after paying for a business class flight. The cost of travel and quarantine was significant and he is frustrated by the assumption most expats have well-paid jobs that mean they could “game the system” and return regularly.
“It’s not a lighthearted or cheap decision just to come back for a visit. It annoys me that the government is framing this as closing a loophole that was being abused – as if people like me have been going back every month for a visit.”
After he heard of the tightened rules for Australians living overseas, Stokes-McKeon was also concerned about what would happen in the event of a family emergency.
“My grandmother is 92, I’m worried something will happen to her. I’m also worried about something happening to my parents, how would I get back if I can’t just leave everything here and risk not being able to get back.”
Australia tightened its international border in July 2020 by introducing caps on the number of international arrivals who could quarantine in hotels – intended to reduce pressure on the quarantine systems to stop the virus leaking into the community.
In response to the current Delta outbreaks that have more than half of Australia under lockdown, the arrival intakes were halved in July to allow just 3,035 people into the country each week.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/aug/07/theyve-taken-it-way-too-far-australians-living-abroad-fear-being-trapped-if-they-return-home-to-visit-family