Stranded Australians

[starlight7]

There are quite a few round the world. Should they have come back immediately when they were asked to in March?  Should Australia help those desperate to return? Should our government give more support? I believe other countries have repatriated their citizens but Australia has abandoned many overseas. There are 39,000 stuck overseas, should they have absolute priority over other travellers?

[Paul1Perth]

They haven't been abandoned. Just there's restrictions on numbers coming in for Australian safety reasons and limits of quarantine places. They'll just have to wait.

My friends son is stuck in Canada. Him and girlfriend could have come back from whistler but they had been working for over a year, which meant they got the Canadian job keeper allowance. Canada didn't lock down so they bought a big camper truck and went travelling, care of the Canadian tax payer. Now they are stuck back in Whistler, numbers of coronavirus have spiked, locked down, no visitors so not much work, job keepers been reduced and they want to come home now.

Unfortunately they'll have to wait a while.

[Dusty Plains]

4 minutes ago, starlight7 said:

There are quite a few round the world. Should they have come back immediately when they were asked to in March?  Should Australia help those desperate to return? Should our government give more support? I believe other countries have repatriated their citizens but Australia has abandoned many overseas. There are 39,000 stuck overseas, should they have absolute priority over other travellers?

I saw the news tonight and they highlighted the case of an Australian Citizen with a very Turkish name, living in Turkey and demanding that the Australian Government fly him  "home" . I looked at Mrs Dusty and she nodded knowingly, and I was thinking the same thing,  

[Jon the Hat]

Given that pretty much only Citizens, PR holders and their families are allowed in it seems to me they do have priority for flights.

[raddis0n]

What happened to buying yourself a ticket and come back home? Do people really have to wait on the government to do everything for them?

[Bulya]

13 minutes ago, raddis0n said:

What happened to buying yourself a ticket and come back home? Do people really have to wait on the government to do everything for them?

Limited number per month.  39,000 plus and growing...

[Ausvisitor]

1 hour ago, Dusty Plains said:

I saw the news tonight and they highlighted the case of an Australian Citizen with a very Turkish name, living in Turkey and demanding that the Australian Government fly him  "home" . I looked at Mrs Dusty and she nodded knowingly, and I was thinking the same thing,  

And what exactly was it that you both thought?

I'm certainly hoping it was "Well here is an Australian citizen stuck overseas, I hope our government pulls out all the stops to repatriate them as soon as possible!"

Otherwise what you've written is phenomenally offence and racist

Edited December 11, 2020 by Ausvisitor

[Ausvisitor]

17 minutes ago, raddis0n said:

What happened to buying yourself a ticket and come back home? Do people really have to wait on the government to do everything for them?

I agree here, yes the government should be helping people get back into the country, making spaces available in Quarantine etc to allow them in, but these people left Australia of their own free will (and at their own cost and arrangements) - they should return under the same process

[Jon the Hat]

13 minutes ago, Ausvisitor said:

And what exactly was it that you both thought?

I'm certainly hoping it was "Well here is an Australian citizen stuck overseas, I hope our government pulls out all the stops to repatriate them as soon as possible!"

Otherwise what you've written is phenomenally offence and racist

Do you not think dual citizenship comes with a slightly different set of rights and responsibilities?  I think what Dusty was saying is if you are both a Turkish and Australian citizen you sort of have two home countries, and expecting either government to pay for you to move from one to the other is ridiculous.  I mean fair enough if you were on holiday in one and then not allowed back to your job and family fine, but if that is the case after 9 months of this then I would be a little surprised.

[raddis0n]

1 hour ago, Bulya said:

Limited number per month.  39,000 plus and growing...

I don't think the government is asking them to stay back if they are willing to afford their own flight ticket. After all, every one of them left on there own accord. 

[Tulip1]

8 hours ago, Bulya said:

Limited number per month.  39,000 plus and growing...

But a great many have managed it. Many new migrants have too. 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Tulip1

[Tulip1]

8 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

And what exactly was it that you both thought?

I'm certainly hoping it was "Well here is an Australian citizen stuck overseas, I hope our government pulls out all the stops to repatriate them as soon as possible!"

Otherwise what you've written is phenomenally offence and racist

I agree with you regarding the what was they thinking.  As for the government pulling out all the stops to repatriate them - hopefully they’d have tried to book themselves a flight which is what they’d be expected to do. If they could show they’d been unable to for the last 9 months then I think it would be right that the government would step in. They should show evidence that they’ve tried though, life’s never a free ride.

[Dusty Plains]

11 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

And what exactly was it that you both thought?

I'm certainly hoping it was "Well here is an Australian citizen stuck overseas, I hope our government pulls out all the stops to repatriate them as soon as possible!"

Otherwise what you've written is phenomenally offence and racist

Guess again.

[Dusty Plains]

12 hours ago, Ausvisitor said:

I agree here, yes the government should be helping people get back into the country, making spaces available in Quarantine etc to allow them in, but these people left Australia of their own free will (and at their own cost and arrangements) - they should return under the same process

I think you have answered your earlier post, 

The person in Turkey ( the subject of the other post)  has been living there for years, but now wants the Australian taxpayer to bring him back.  There has been ample opportunity for this person to make arrangements to come back under his own steam, with some assistance from the Australian consulate if required.  

Yet another dual citizen expecting Australia to send in the rescue chopper, simply because things have not worked out for them in the other country. 

I note you jumped in with the race card quite early. The person in Turkey has done the same, insisting Australia is not sending "the chopper" because of his race.  Mrs Dusty and I have heard it all before.    

Edited December 11, 2020 by Dusty Plains

[Melbpom]

I've assumed that the govt are allocating returning citizen places according to the country in which a person resides. Most of us here are dual citizens but we'd know where we normally reside.

[Skani]

6 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

  As for the government pulling out all the stops to repatriate them - hopefully they’d have tried to book themselves a flight which is what they’d be expected to do. 

They have been but the reality is that airlines have drastically cut the number of flights to Australia - in fact most ceased altogether  - the number of seats per flight has been reduced due to the airlines' physical distancing requirements and the Australian government  has limited the number of passengers allowed into the country each week to accommodate  compulsory hotel quarantining.  Airlines give priority to those who book business or first class so economy passengers often found they were bumped off flights if they couldn't afford to upgrade.  I heard of one person from South Africa who has had their flight cancelled 10 times.  Often this is at the very last minute.  Some poor woman trying to get home to Perth with 4 children had her flight cancelled after she had arrived at Heathrow.  The next plane they could be booked on was in 5 days time.  She had no money for hotel accommodation so was facing the prospect of that 5 days at Heathrow with 4 young children.    I don't know what happened in the end.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Skani

[Parley]

9 minutes ago, Skani said:

They have been but the reality is that airlines have drastically cut the number of flights to Australia - in fact most ceased altogether  - the number of seats per flight has been reduced due to the airlines' physical distancing requirements and the Australian government  has limited the number of passengers allowed into the country each week to accommodate  compulsory hotel quarantining.  Airlines give priority to those who book business or first class so economy passengers often found they were bumped off flights if they couldn't afford to upgrade.  I heard of one person from South Africa who has had their flight cancelled 10 times.  Often this is at the very last minute.  Some poor woman trying to get home to Perth with 4 children had her flight cancelled after she had arrived at Heathrow.  The next plane they could be booked on was in 5 days time.  She had no money for hotel accommodation so was facing the prospect of that 5 days at Heathrow with 4 young children.    I don't know what happened in the end.

Airlines used to give accomodation vouchers when they cancelled a flight. I don't know if they are in the current climate though.

[Quoll]

Back in March, the message was very loud and clear - get home now or risk being stuck.  Cant say they weren't warned and sure, moving at the drop of a hat isnt easy but it was do-able back then.  As for dual citizens - I am one and I think that if you are living in the country of your other citizenship and (in some cases, have been for some long time) then, no, it's not the government's priority to return you to Australia.

[Freemantle]

We were travelling Europe when Covid basically followed us from country to country and we arrived back in time for the borders to shut!  I have heard this argument time and again "why didnt they come home" . Like us we heard a distant murmour  about this "bug" in China but we thought "Sars, Legionnaires  ect" and were not unduly concerned.  For the news to filter through in some countries took time, then the airlines acted very quickly tripling the fares/ and or insisting on business class tickets to be purchased, a huge expense for a family!. There are also many citizens or permanent residents working/living overseas where it is just not viable to down tools and catch the first flight out!  Pregnancies over 36 weeks, people caring for sick relatives/attending funerals, rental obligations or truing to sell your abode. Each person has their story and I personally respect that! 

It must be dreadful to be locked out of your own country as much as it is pretty dire for ourselves wishing to go back to Europe for whatever compassionate reasons we might have!

[AliQ]

33 minutes ago, Quoll said:

Back in March, the message was very loud and clear - get home now or risk being stuck.  Cant say they weren't warned and sure, moving at the drop of a hat isnt easy but it was do-able back then.  As for dual citizens - I am one and I think that if you are living in the country of your other citizenship and (in some cases, have been for some long time) then, no, it's not the government's priority to return you to Australia.

Can you please tell me how it was "do able" back in March ?

We booked flights to return BEFORE covid struck. Those flights were then cancelled FOUR times between March and mid July.

AND, the UK shut down for months so it was impossible to organise a move when NO ONE WAS WORKING !

These type of comments are insensitive to all of us who tried to do the right thing at that time.

[calNgary]

1 hour ago, AliQ said:

Can you please tell me how it was "do able" back in March ?

We booked flights to return BEFORE covid struck. Those flights were then cancelled FOUR times between March and mid July.

AND, the UK shut down for months so it was impossible to organise a move when NO ONE WAS WORKING !

These type of comments are insensitive to all of us who tried to do the right thing at that time.

I dont think she meant people like yourselves who had flights booked for later in the year, back then no one could really predict the travel ban that was put in place on March (i think) 25th..

Mid Feb residents were first warned to return home in case this turned into a pandemic, yet thousand's and thousands ignored the advice and actually left the country ! A lot also didnt return immediately in case they had to quarantine (quarantine wasnt compulsory at the beginning), which has now bitten them on the butt. (remember back then lots of people thought covid would just be another 'flu''  and we would all be back to normal in a few weeks).

   Cal x

[Tmduk]

3 hours ago, Quoll said:

Back in March, the message was very loud and clear - get home now or risk being stuck.  Cant say they weren't warned and sure, moving at the drop of a hat isnt easy but it was do-able back then.  As for dual citizens - I am one and I think that if you are living in the country of your other citizenship and (in some cases, have been for some long time) then, no, it's not the government's priority to return you to Australia.

What about those who were renting apartments or rooms, what about their bond? Just leave without their thousands of pounds that the landlord is holding? Also, people were renting rooms with friends, should they just leave the room, stop contributing to the monthly rent and leave your friends/other tenants short of the money required for rent at short notice and screw them over? The professionals with targets to hit at work, no one wants to leave and screw over their employer either, what will they say when you need them for a reference? “They just disappeared and left me in the shit”.

 

Imagine handing your notice to your employer with your flight booked home. Oops sorry my flight has been cancelled can I work for a bit longer, oops sorry it’s cancelled again can I work for another month.

 

Aren’t you one of the ones who goes on about how stressful and expensive it is to move to the other side of the world (emigrating to Australia), now you’re saying people should have been able to move swiftly? What about their furniture, pets, gym memberships, electronics, clothes, wifi, gas, etc etc.

[Parley]

2 hours ago, Tmduk said:

What about those who were renting apartments or rooms, what about their bond? Just leave without their thousands of pounds that the landlord is holding? Also, people were renting rooms with friends, should they just leave the room, stop contributing to the monthly rent and leave your friends/other tenants short of the money required for rent at short notice and screw them over? The professionals with targets to hit at work, no one wants to leave and screw over their employer either, what will they say when you need them for a reference? “They just disappeared and left me in the shit”.

 

Imagine handing your notice to your employer with your flight booked home. Oops sorry my flight has been cancelled can I work for a bit longer, oops sorry it’s cancelled again can I work for another month.

 

Aren’t you one of the ones who goes on about how stressful and expensive it is to move to the other side of the world (emigrating to Australia), now you’re saying people should have been able to move swiftly? What about their furniture, pets, gym memberships, electronics, clothes, wifi, gas, etc etc.

I think you are misrepresenting the message.

It was.. If you want to come home to Australia, do it now not later.

If you are obviously living in another country on a long term basis, that is something else entirely.

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Tmduk said:

, no one wants to leave and screw over their employer either, what will they say when you need them for a reference? “They just disappeared and left me in the shit”.

Imagine handing your notice to your employer with your flight booked home.

I don't think someone with a job overseas counts as "stranded".  To be working over there means they have somewhere to live and an income.

If, after seeing how well Australia has done with Covid, they decide maybe they'd like to up sticks and come home - that's a choice and they should pay for it.  

In my book, "stranded" means people who have a permanent home in Australia and, for whatever reason, they got stuck overseas when the borders closed, with no other home to go to.  

Edited December 12, 2020 by Marisawright

[AliQ]

38 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

I don't think someone with a job overseas counts as "stranded".  To be working over there means they have somewhere to live and an income.

Many Australians lost their jobs, so lost their income and possibly the roof over their head.