Returning Aussies pushed aside for foreign nationals
Michael speaks with Ron Thorp, an Aussie trapped in London hoping to get back to Australia to see his terminally ill father.
Pre-coronavirus, up to a million Australians were residing overseas; working, studying & operating businesses and as of February 2021 around 40,000 Australians are registered with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading (DFAT) seeking urgent return.
Just last month, Australia’s arrival caps are at the same inadequate levels they were in October 2020, at less than 25,000 passengers per month with up to 25% of international arrivals since the travel ban have been foreign nationals on temporary visas, including sports entourages, celebrities, foreign military personnel, farm workers to take low paid jobs, and business people.
Airline industry bodies estimate up to 100,000 Australians are still stranded abroad with most holding cancelled tickets while prices into Australia are commonly selling for 10 – 15 times the usual price of an economy ticket and twice or several times more than the usual price of business or first class.
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