Wanderer Returns Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 From 14 July, Australia will accept just over 3,000 people a week and the measure is likely to last until next year (BBC News). If you need to arrive in Australia before your PR or entry visa expires, then move your plans forwards as quickly as possible. It's looking like there could be a complete travel ban in/out of the country at this rate, until the vaccine fiasco has been sorted out. I don't know about anyone else but I've been trying to book mine for a month now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 38 minutes ago, Wanderer Returns said: From 14 July, Australia will accept just over 3,000 people a week and the measure is likely to last until next year (BBC News). If you need to arrive in Australia before your PR or entry visa expires, then move your plans forwards as quickly as possible. It's looking like there could be a complete travel ban in/out of the country at this rate, until the vaccine fiasco has been sorted out. I don't know about anyone else but I've been trying to book mine for a month now! Not that easy honestly, just about everything is booked up. DFAT flights to be increased so looks like we are all going to be off to Howard Springs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psuwara Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Who would sign a petition to ask The Australian Government for a formal apology to The Australian People for the disastrous rollout? 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AltyMatt Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Why do you think the rollout has been disastrous? We have had the luxury of waiting to see how effective vaccines have been in other countries. There has been no rush to get vaccinated when infection rates have been so low, pretty much non-existent for most of 2021. As the UK still have tens of thousands of new cases each week people are more incentivized to get vaccinated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 3 hours ago, Wanderer Returns said: From 14 July, Australia will accept just over 3,000 people a week and the measure is likely to last until next year (BBC News). If you need to arrive in Australia before your PR or entry visa expires, then move your plans forwards as quickly as possible. It's looking like there could be a complete travel ban in/out of the country at this rate, until the vaccine fiasco has been sorted out. I don't know about anyone else but I've been trying to book mine for a month now! Note that although they are saying 14th July, some states are already trying to drop their cap, they do not have to wait till the 14th. Queensland, for example, has a sudden serious hotel room shortage (for a few reasons) and I think if she could've stopped all flights immediately, then she would have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 Just now, AltyMatt said: Why do you think the rollout has been disastrous? We have had the luxury of waiting to see how effective vaccines have been in other countries. There has been no rush to get vaccinated when infection rates have been so low, pretty much non-existent for most of 2021. As the UK still have tens of thousands of new cases each week people are more incentivized to get vaccinated. Because Australia still has to lock-down 75% of it's population for a few cases while a lot of the world is getting close to business as usual. Because Australians are in the main prohibited from leaving their country, because 35,000 Australians are not able to come home. Becuase what 8% of Australians have been vaccinated? despite the evidence being there for months that pretty much all of available vaccines are hugely effective, up to 98% with Pfizer against death and hospitalisation, as well as transmission. Its not a luxury, it is a huge expensive mistake. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 2 hours ago, psuwara said: Who would sign a petition to ask The Australian Government for a formal apology to The Australian People for the disastrous rollout? Or a letter of congratulations for zero deaths in 2021. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest AltyMatt Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 2 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said: Because Australia still has to lock-down 75% of it's population for a few cases while a lot of the world is getting close to business as usual. Because Australians are in the main prohibited from leaving their country, because 35,000 Australians are not able to come home. Becuase what 8% of Australians have been vaccinated? despite the evidence being there for months that pretty much all of available vaccines are hugely effective, up to 98% with Pfizer against death and hospitalisation, as well as transmission. Its not a luxury, it is a huge expensive mistake. I don't think Australia should have to lock down the population for so few community cases, but that's a decision for the state governments. Business as usual in the UK is over 15,000 new cases based on 7 day rolling average versus just 30 in Australia, and that's with our vaccination program starting over 3 months after theirs. Explaining those numbers to friends in UK they just assumed I had dropped 'thousand' of the end. There was a deliberate policy to wait and see with vaccines and based on AZ issues this was probably a good thing. More deaths in 2021 due to AZ than Covid shows caution was probably appropriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 (edited) 14 minutes ago, AltyMatt said: I don't think Australia should have to lock down the population for so few community cases, but that's a decision for the state governments. probably appropriate We have seen last year if you don't lockdown, 30 cases will quickly become hundreds of cases and then thousands of cases and hundred of deaths. If you lockdown early when you have 30 cases you go down to zero cases in a few weeks. anyway he is grossly exagerating. 75% of Australia's population is not locked down. Even if they were, most people accept it if it saves lives. Edited July 2, 2021 by Parley 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Parley said: We have seen last year if you don't lockdown, 30 cases will quickly become hundreds of cases and then thousands of cases and hundred of deaths. If you lockdown early when you have 30 cases you go down to zero cases in a few weeks. anyway he is grossly exagerating. 75% of Australia's population is not locked down. Even if they were, most people accept it if it saves lives. You are right it was 50%, it was on the Australian news the other day. The UK cases are irrelevant now, Covid isn't even in the top 10 of things people are dying of on a daily basis. The vulnerable are 100% vaccinated. We are days away from all restrictions lifted. Australia could be there too if they got their shit together. The border closures and track and trace were a big success last year, however they missed the boat on vaccines, and also on building better quarantine facilities. That is a disaster because it is costing Australia a fortune. Edited July 2, 2021 by Jon the Hat 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon the Hat Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 37 minutes ago, Parley said: Or a letter of congratulations for zero deaths in 2021. Its a big success until you fail to follow up with a plan to get out of it. They bet on a vaccine coming along to support a Zero Covid strategy - they were right, but they are failing to deliver it effectively. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 My daughter just booked her vaccination. 20th September. She works in the aged care industry. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGyver Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Jon the Hat said: You are right it was 50%, it was on the Australian news the other day. The UK cases are irrelevant now, Covid isn't even in the top 10 of things people are dying of on a daily basis. The vulnerable are 100% vaccinated. We are days away from all restrictions lifted. Australia could be there too if they got their shit together. The border closures and track and trace were a big success last year, however they missed the boat on vaccines, and also on building better quarantine facilities. That is a disaster because it is costing Australia a fortune. In Perth it’s was 4 days locked down, Queensland similar, so not quite as dramatic as the headlines sound. I agree the vaccine rollout has been slow (to put it mildly), but its starting to ramp up now with 30% having received their first dose. Not good enough yet, but increasing supply will see the rates shoot up in the next weeks and months as the demand is increasing now. I think from outside Australia it’s difficult to understand how popular the closed borders have been up to this point. The economy is doing very well (better than pre Covid and lower unemployment than pre Covid - compare to the Uk where the economy isn’t expected to return to pre Covid levels until mid 2022), there have been hardly any deaths at all and people have lived normal lives for the past 18 months (mostly Melbourne being the exception for a few months) while the world has been locked down and suffering. People are starting to feel frustration with the vaccine rollout, but I only ever see it referred to as a disaster for political reasons or from people outside Australia wanting to come in (which is completely understandable). They took an overly cautious approach to begin with, there was a lack of urgency and the issues with AZ have caused delays. But it does look like things will change considerably over the next few months and when the dust finally settles on this pandemic, i think history will be kind to Australia’s success in managing it and exiting it (maybe 4-6 months later than originally planned). 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 (edited) 7 hours ago, MacGyver said: I think from outside Australia it’s difficult to understand how popular the closed borders have been up to this point. The economy is doing very well (better than pre Covid and lower unemployment than pre Covid - compare to the Uk where the economy isn’t expected to return to pre Covid levels until mid 2022), there have been hardly any deaths at all and people have lived normal lives for the past 18 months (mostly Melbourne being the exception for a few months) while the world has been locked down and suffering. This is what people overseas don't understand. The average Australian feels safe, comfortable and is living a normal life most of the time. There's the occasional snap lockdown which only lasts a few weeks. Apart from going on an overseas holiday, they're not missing out on anything. We know that if we open the borders, people will die. Brits may say, "but we're only getting 100 deaths a week now" and then don't understand when we look at them in horror. We have a nice, normal life and no deaths, thank you very much, why should we volunteer some of our citizens to die? Australians still regard the 800+ Melbourne deaths last year as a national tragedy. Of course, that's not the whole picture. People's livelihoods have been wiped out and small businesses destroyed, BUT that's only in some sectors, like the performing arts and tourism. For those people, it's life-changing and heart-breaking - but the problem for them is that they're minorities. Also in a minority, (even though we're a nation of migrants) are the people who want to visit family overseas/bring them here. In a democracy, minorities don't rule--especially with a populist government. Edited July 2, 2021 by Marisawright 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 (edited) 10 hours ago, Jon the Hat said: You are right it was 50%, it was on the Australian news the other day. The UK cases are irrelevant now, Covid isn't even in the top 10 of things people are dying of on a daily basis. The vulnerable are 100% vaccinated. We are days away from all restrictions lifted. Australia could be there too if they got their shit together. The border closures and track and trace were a big success last year, however they missed the boat on vaccines, and also on building better quarantine facilities. That is a disaster because it is costing Australia a fortune. Are you saying we should accept 150000 deaths like in the UK if it eventually leads to where you are today? Australia will never do that. By the end of this Year Australia will be fully vaccinated, meaning everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be. This has always been the plan so only another 6 months to go. Edited July 2, 2021 by Parley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 8 hours ago, HappyHeart said: My daughter just booked her vaccination. 20th September. She works in the aged care industry. It is good they have now made it compulsory. I'm surprised she isn't fully vaccinated already. I suppose if the residents are fully vaccinated it is ok but all the workers should have done it early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 50 minutes ago, Marisawright said: Of course, that's not the whole picture. People's livelihoods have been wiped out and small businesses destroyed, BUT that's only in some sectors, like the performing arts and tourism. For those people, it's life-changing and heart-breaking - but the problem for them is that they're minorities. Also in a minority, (even though we're a nation of migrants) are the people who want to visit family overseas/bring them here. In a democracy, minorities don't rule--especially with a populist government. The government were very generous with all the programs to help people who's jobs were impacted. Some people may have fallen through the cracks admittedly. But has there been a more generous government anywhere in the world. I would like to read about it if so. The amount of money provided by the Australian government was astronomical. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) 36 minutes ago, Parley said: The government were very generous with all the programs to help people who's jobs were impacted. Some people may have fallen through the cracks admittedly. Yes, that's the perception but it's not true. Dancers, actors, musicians and singers get paid a fee for each show they do. If they don't do shows, they don't get paid. That's classed as "casual employment" so they weren't covered by Jobkeeper. Even in the big theatres, everyone is hired on a show-by-show basis. I was talking to a woman who has been an usher at the Melbourne Arts Centre for ten years. Although she's been employed continuously, full-time, all that time, officially she is "casual", because she gets re-hired on a new contract for every new show. The stage managers, wardrobe people, lighting staff, even the managers, are all employed on the same basis. When the Arts Centre closed down, none of the staff could claim Jobkeeper because they were "only casual". Edited July 3, 2021 by Marisawright Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Marisawright said: Yes, that's the perception but it's not true. Dancers, actors, musicians and singers get paid a fee for each show they do. If they don't do shows, they don't get paid. That's classed as "casual employment" so they weren't covered by Jobkeeper. Even in the big theatres, everyone is hired on a show-by-show basis. I was talking to a woman who has been an usher at the Melbourne Arts Centre for ten years. Although she's been employed continuously, full-time, all that time, officially she is "casual", because she gets re-hired on a new contract for every new show. The stage managers, wardrobe people, lighting staff, even the managers, are all employed on the same basis. When the Arts Centre closed down, none of the staff could claim Jobkeeper because they were "only casual". Jobseeker was for people like them. And you could have got it too. All assets and income eligibility criteria was waived and you would have received nearly $1200 a fortnight (double the usual payment). Anyone not working and not getting JobKeeper or another pension was mad not to apply. Edited July 3, 2021 by Parley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIG85 Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 10 hours ago, HappyHeart said: My daughter just booked her vaccination. 20th September. She works in the aged care industry. Good grief, a key worker still the best part of 3 months away from getting her vaccine. What a disgrace this vaccine rollout has been. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 hour ago, Parley said: It is good they have now made it compulsory. I'm surprised she isn't fully vaccinated already. I suppose if the residents are fully vaccinated it is ok but all the workers should have done it early on. They can't get an appointment. I know someone in NSW still trying to get vaccinated. She's young so was only allowed to get Pfizer. She rings up every week and gets told there are no appointments (apparently unlike WA, they don't take bookings far in advance, because they don't know if they'll have enough vaccine supply) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 16 minutes ago, DIG85 said: Good grief, a key worker still the best part of 3 months away from getting her vaccine. What a disgrace this vaccine rollout has been. Lets not jump to conclusions. Many key workers don't really believe in vaccination and try to avoid it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted July 3, 2021 Share Posted July 3, 2021 Due to the fact we have an Australian covid thread in CTF discussing very similar things, i will close this one. (there are too many posts to merge both threads and them still make sense) Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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