Coronavirus

[mrposhman]

The number of Indians that were refused entry to the plane coming back IMO shows that we were vindicated in doing what we did in terms of blocking flights regardless of the public outcry. For almost half of the flight to test positive to boarding shows how rampant it is there, and it is right to be ultra cautious in how we bring people back from India.

Howard Springs seems like the right solution, shame that the feds though are not pushing forward to provide more facilities such as these.

 

[Althom]

The number of Indians that were refused entry to the plane coming back IMO shows that we were vindicated in doing what we did in terms of blocking flights regardless of the public outcry. For almost half of the flight to test positive to boarding shows how rampant it is there, and it is right to be ultra cautious in how we bring people back from India.

Howard Springs seems like the right solution, shame that the feds though are not pushing forward to provide more facilities such as these.

Exactly.
If they'd have been allowed to board we would have ended up with virtually an entire plane infected, Howard Springs would have been over its max 100 infected residents and the ban on flights would have had to be put back in place.
We need more quarantine facilities and we need them 6 months ago but unfortunately even if we had a Howard Springs in each state the likelihood would be that we'd still be pausing flights out of Inida.

 

[larabee]

The number of Indians that were refused entry to the plane coming back IMO shows that we were vindicated in doing what we did in terms of blocking flights regardless of the public outcry. For almost half of the flight to test positive to boarding shows how rampant it is there, and it is right to be ultra cautious in how we bring people back from India.

Maybe.
Or maybe many of those now infected and (rightly) refused entry would have been ok to travel before the ban was put in place?
There was a man interviewed yesterday who was about to come home, COVID negative, then was banned, has subsequently caught COVID, and now can't come back home. How many others like this?

There didn't have to be a ban if the gov had quarantine set up properly in the first place

 

[Baloo]

The number of Indians that were refused entry to the plane coming back IMO shows that we were vindicated in doing what we did in terms of blocking flights regardless of the public outcry. For almost half of the flight to test positive to boarding shows how rampant it is there, and it is right to be ultra cautious in how we bring people back from India.

Howard Springs seems like the right solution, shame that the feds though are not pushing forward to provide more facilities such as these.

Indians or Australians?

 

[mrposhman]

Indians or Australians?

Well I assume both. Permanent residents of Australia can still come back. They are Indian, just like I am English as I haven't done my citizenship yet (spending too much time on PRE haha)

 

[mrposhman]

Indians or Australians?

No offence Baloo, but why do you always turn all comments on here into a race debate?

 

[Baloo]

Well I assume both. Permanent residents of Australia can still come back. They are Indian, just like I am English as I haven't done my citizenship yet (spending too much time on PRE haha)

There were Australian citizens who were turned away by the government. Left behind in a country were the health system has imploded and have little chance of getting the right care if they get COVID badly.

Simpson and his donkey will be rolling in their graves.

 

[Baloo]

No offence Baloo, but why do you always turn all comments on here into a race debate?

Because you only said Indians were turned away. By referring to them always as Indians it's making it easy to forget we are talking about Australians who have been abandoned and threatened with jail if they make it back.

By referring to them as Indians, you're the one focusing on their race.

 

[mrposhman]

There were Australian citizens who were turned away by the government. Left behind in a country were the health system has imploded and have little chance of getting the right care if they get COVID badly.

Simpson and his donkey will be rolling in their graves.

I think we all understand that, but we also need to protect the borders. The comments a few spots up about the man who was negative then turned positive had been in India for 11 months (so left Australia AFTER Covid so took the risk, and then when the risk gets too high for those already in Australia complains about it.

I'm a British citizen but if I chose to be here or I had gone back to the UK, that was my choice with my risk. If flights are temporarily suspended (as they were here for 3 weeks) due to the risk of those who didn't venture out then personal view is I only have myself to blame.

But then we are in the age of its never my fault, someone else must be to blame for my decisions.

 

[mrposhman]

Because you only said Indians were turned away. By referring to them always as Indians it's making it easy to forget we are talking about Australians who have been abandoned and threatened with jail if they make it back.

By referring to them as Indians, you're the one focusing on their race.

Rubbish. It was a statement. I expect most of them (if not all) still hold their Indian passports so would regard themselves as much as being Indian as they are Australian, as I will when I take my Aussie citizenship. I'm still British too you know.

I am far from a racist, but by all means, keep throwing stones.

 

[Baloo]

Rubbish. It was a statement. I expect most of them (if not all) still hold their Indian passports so would regard themselves as much as being Indian as they are Australian, as I will when I take my Aussie citizenship. I'm still British too you know.

I am far from a racist, but by all means, keep throwing stones.

Dual nationality isn't allowed in India.

Indian High Commission
The Constitution of India does not permit holding of dual nationality by Indian nationals. As and when an Indian national obtains a foreign nationality, he/she is not entitled to retain his/her Indian Passports and has to surrender their passports at the time of acquiring another nationality.

 

[mrposhman]

Dual nationality isn't allowed in India.

Indian High Commission
The Constitution of India does not permit holding of dual nationality by Indian nationals. As and when an Indian national obtains a foreign nationality, he/she is not entitled to retain his/her Indian Passports and has to surrender their passports at the time of acquiring another nationality.

Ok well I wasn't aware of that. I will take that onboard but my assumption was they were dual nations. Not knowing that they didn't allow that doesn't make something racist however.

 

[Althom]

Ok well I wasn't aware of that. I will take that onboard but my assumption was they were dual nations. Not knowing that they didn't allow that doesn't make something racist however.

No there is no true Dual Citizenship allowed in India HOWEVER when an Indian national takes out Australian citizenship they can;
1. Pay the ~AUD$200 fee to rescind their Indian Citizenship and apply for Overseas Indian Citizen Status which allows them exactly the same rights as a full Indian Citizenship (including the right to reside in India) apart from not being allowed to vote in Indian elections or
2. Not notify the Indian Government that they've taken out Australian citizenship and take the risk that they'll get caught using their Indian passport and have to pay the ~AUD200 fine for doing so.

 

[Althom]

Maybe.
Or maybe many of those now infected and (rightly) refused entry would have been ok to travel before the ban was put in place?
There was a man interviewed yesterday who was about to come home, COVID negative, then was banned, has subsequently caught COVID, and now can't come back home. How many others like this?

There didn't have to be a ban if the gov had quarantine set up properly in the first place

That particular bloke has been there for ~11 months. He stayed to look after his mother who, although an Australain citizen, chooses to live in India. he could have come home, with his mum, at any time over that 11 months.
In excess of 140k other Australians have managed it since last September.

 

[larabee]

That particular bloke has been there for ~11 months. He stayed to look after his mother who, although an Australain citizen, chooses to live in India. he could have come home, with his mum, at any time over that 11 months.
In excess of 140k other Australians have managed it since last September.

so why the ban?

Feds have been banging on about how the hotel quarantine has been working, so no need to spend money on dedicated facilities. Why did they need to ban Australians from coming home if it was so good?

 

[Althom]

so why the ban?

Feds have been banging on about how the hotel quarantine has been working, so no need to spend money on dedicated facilities. Why did they need to ban Australians from coming home if it was so good?

A relatively simple matter of the infection load in India and the numbers of people involved wanting to get back.
The ban was put in place because the only suitable site (Howard Springs) to quarantine these people was at it's limit, in terms of infected people, two weeks ago.
The ban/pause was needed to reduce those numbers and will probably need to be reinstated within the month.
As I stated earlier;
"We need more quarantine facilities and we need them 6 months ago but unfortunately even if we had a Howard Springs in each state the likelihood would be that we'd still be pausing flights out of India"

 

[mrposhman]

so why the ban?

Feds have been banging on about how the hotel quarantine has been working, so no need to spend money on dedicated facilities. Why did they need to ban Australians from coming home if it was so good?

The ban was for 3 weeks. It wasn't for longer than that. Due to the sheer size of the outbreak (and you can see that with half the 1st flight being positive) they wanted to reduce the risk further by housing them at Howard Springs but needed to increase the capacity. This was the right decision. Failing to build more facilities such as Howard Springs was a very poor decision.

 

[Baloo]

Forbidding Australians to return to Australia when their lives are at risk is very much the wrong decision. It's very, as much as I hate the term, very unAustralian to abandon other Australians who need help.

We have a strong history of always helping whenever we can, even when they aren't our battles. What we're doing here is very very wrong.

 

[Brodders17]

That particular bloke has been there for ~11 months. He stayed to look after his mother who, although an Australain citizen, chooses to live in India. he could have come home, with his mum, at any time over that 11 months.
In excess of 140k other Australians have managed it since last September.

I dont know about this bloke, but to say Australians overseas could have come home at any time simply over the last 11 months simply isnt true.
There have always been restrictions on numbers, so flights havent always been available. countries have at various times limited movement so Australians couldnt always physically get to an airport to fly home. flights have been cancelled and rescheduled at a high rate, so people who have flights booked havent always been able to get on them.

 

[Althom]

I dont know about this bloke, but to say Australians overseas could have come home at any time simply over the last 11 months simply isnt true.
There have always been restrictions on numbers, so flights havent always been available. countries have at various times limited movement so Australians couldnt always physically get to an airport to fly home. flights have been cancelled and rescheduled at a high rate, so people who have flights booked havent always been able to get on them.

140k others would say that's up for debate because that's how many have managed to get home since last September - when there was allegedly only 35k "trapped"