Tag: Australia

The Albanese government imposed pre-flight Covid checks on travellers from China against the advice of the chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly.

The 31 December advice, published by the health department, stated that Kelly did “not believe that there is sufficient public health rationale” for any additional requirements, labelling any restriction on travel from China “disproportionate to the risk”.

Announcing the federal government’s response on Sunday, the health minister, Mark Butler, sidestepped a question about the content of health advice, saying that it confirmed Australia was “well positioned in the fight against Covid” but the pre-flight checks were being imposed “out of an abundance of caution”.

The Coalition criticised the decision on Tuesday, with the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, calling on Butler to clarify “confusion” about the advice and “make it transparently clear about what are the trigger points moving forward”.

“That’s what builds confidence,” he told Channel Nine’s Today program.

The shadow assistant minister for mental health, Melissa McIntosh, said it was “quite perplexing” that Butler had “gone against the health advice of the chief medical officer of this country”.

“One of the reasons why Australia got through the pandemic was one of the best countries in the world to do so was because we followed Australia’s medical advice,” she told ABC News Breakfast. “Not following other countries’ [advice].”

In the advice published on Sunday, Kelly states he consulted chief health officers on the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee on 30 December 2022, and there was “strong consensus that implementation of any restrictions to travel from China at this time would be inconsistent with the current national approach to the management of Covid-19 and disproportionate to the risk”.

“I do not believe that there is sufficient public health rationale to impose any restriction or additional requirements on travellers