Australia to FINALLY reopen to tourists on February 21, says Scott Morrison

Australia’s borders will finally open to international tourists on February 21 after almost two years of closure to keep out Covid-19.

But visitors must be double-vaccinated or risk being turned away like tennis star Novak Djokovic who was sent home last month.

‘The condition is you must be double vaccinated to come to Australia. That’s the rule. Everyone is expected to abide by it,’ said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

‘But if you’re double vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia and I know the tourism industry will be looking forward to that.’

Mr Morrison said the decision was taken because Australia is now ravaged with the Omicron variant of Covid, meaning international travellers don’t pose a risk.

‘The variant is here in Australia. And for those who are coming in who are double vaccinated, they don’t present any greater risk than those who are already here in Australia.’  

Western Australia, which is still pursuing a Covid-zero strategy, is expected to keep in place its arrival caps and 14-day quarantine rules which will prevent large numbers of international tourists entering the state.

Asked if the move would push Premier Mark McGowan to relax the rules to capitalise on tourism dollars, Mr Morrison replied: ‘The two issues are unrelated’. 

Visa holders who are not vaccinated will need a travel exemption to enter the country and will be subject to state and territory quarantine requirements on arrival. 

Australia has opened its border in stages after only allowing Australian citizens and permanent residents from March 2020.

In November 2021 skilled migrants and students were also allowed to enter provided they were fully vaccinated. 

Mr Morrison’s decision to open up came after he faced pressure from executives in the travel and tourism including Qantas boss Alan Joyce who said keeping the border closed was illogical. 

Former deputy chief medical officer Dr Nick Coatsworth said the timing was right for the border reopening to expand to tourists.

‘It’s a really important sign for Australians that things are back on the path to normality,’ he told the Nine Network.

‘The fact that we’re going to have people coming into the country, students and tourists who have been vaccinated, that’s a safe policy and the right time to do it.’

Dr Coatsworth said the high vaccination rates across the country meant it was safe to let tourists back into Australia.

‘We can safely open borders to people who have had the primary course,’ he said.

The news has been welcomed by the tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the pandemic and border closures.

Chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum Margy Osmond earlier urged the Government to open up.

‘We do need a date so we’ve got a little bit of notice to start gearing things up,’ she told ABC TV.

‘We’d like a couple of weeks at least, and the most important thing here is to understand that this is a staged process.’

Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced the government will provide tax breaks for businesses and individuals who need to use rapid antigen tests for work purposes.

He told an Australian Industry Group function COVID-19 testing expenses would be tax deductible for testing taken to attend a place of work.

‘We will also ensure that fringe benefits tax will not be incurred by employers where COVID-19 tests are provided to employees for this purpose,’ he added.

On Monday, 14 COVID-19 deaths were reported in NSW and seven fatalities in Victoria.

The latest case numbers showed there were 7,347 new infections in NSW and 8,275 in Victoria.