1 November: NSW sets date for international re-opening
The NSW government has revealed this morning (15 October) that fully vaccinated travellers will be able to arrive in the state from overseas from next month without the need for arrival caps or mandatory quarantine.
Premier Dominic Perrottet, Deputy Premier Paul Toole, Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres, and Health Minister Brad Hazzard have revealed in a statement that from 1 November, the NSW government “will remove quarantine requirements and caps for overseas arrivals who the Commonwealth government recognises as fully vaccinated with a TGA-approved vaccine”.
The statement acknowledged that this move would help Australians stranded abroad to get home before the end of the year.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has since stressed that "this is about Australian residents and citizens first".
"The Commonwealth Government has made no decision to allow other visa holders - skilled visa holders, student visa holders, international visitors travelling under an ETA or other international visa arrangement, visa, visiting visa arrangement - to come into Australia under these arrangements. They are decisions for the Commonwealth Government, as the Premier and I know, and, but where we’re in a position to make that decision down the track, then obviously in New South Wales they will be able to do so, if they’re vaccinated, without having to quarantine."
Overseas arrivals who are not fully vaccinated will be capped at 210 people per week and will still be required to undergo 14 days mandatory hotel quarantine.
According to the Premier, “welcoming back fully vaccinated travellers will not only mean families and friends can be home in time for Christmas, it will also give our economy a major boost.”
The news of NSW’s re-opening comes the same day that the NSW government announced it would be pushing back the date for travel resumption within NSW.
Travel between Greater Sydney (including the Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shellharbour, and the Central Coast) and regional NSW is also set to resume on 1 November, with the government indicating that the extension of current restrictions would allow people in the regions more time to receive their second vaccine.
Deputy Premier Toole said it was a “tough decision” to delay travel between Greater Sydney and the regions.
“Everyone has done a brilliant job of getting vaccinated, and rates are rising fast; however, we have looked at the health modelling and listened to feedback from regional communities who want more time to get their double dose vaccination rates up as high as possible before they welcome back visitors.”
On Monday, 18 October, in line with the reaching of the 80 per cent double vaccination milestone, NSW residents will see further eased restrictions, one of which will see mask-wearing no longer required in offices.
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