International arrivals into Queensland now have to quarantine for twice as long as locals who actually have COVID-19, infuriating some Australians returning to the Sunshine State.
Queensland agreed to new rules discussed in National Cabinet last week to reduce the self-isolation period for COVID-19 patients and their close contacts to seven days.
But the state has kept a rule forcing anyone coming from overseas — except New Zealand — whether vaccinated or not, to quarantine for 14 days at home or a government-arranged hotel.
International arrivals must test negative to COVID-19 within 72 hours of getting on the plane.
After many years living in Berlin, Natalie and her son, Max, are returning to Australia to spend more time with her unwell father. She was unsure whether or not the Queensland government will drop the quarantine requirement by the time they arrive in mid-January and described the inconsistency as frustrating and unfair.
"Unfortunately, it's not so surprising to me, seeing how we've been treated differently over the last two years, and also the justification often for it," she told 9News.com.au, asking for her last name not to be used.
"That even when they hit the 80 per cent (of people aged over 16 with two jabs), they were saying international people will still be treated differently because of different vaccines, which doesn't make any sense.
"Because of different variants — doesn't make sense, there's more Omicron in New South Wales than there is from where I come from."
Natalie said she and her two sisters all rushed back to Australia in February when her father took a turn for the worse and one stayed behind. She said it was incredibly difficult being effectively cut off from her parents after so many years of knowing she could always be home in a day or two in an emergency.
"There's a perception that the borders are open but they're not," she said.
"There's still a lot of people struggling to come home and looking at it at a public health risk aspect, the humanity side, it just doesn't make sense."
Western Australia is the only other state or territory to still force fully vaccinated international travellers to undergo two weeks of quarantine. It currently asks the same of any of the limited interstate arrivals granted exemptions to enter too.
South Australia scrapped quarantine requirements for vaccinated arrivals on New Year's Day and the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Victoria did the same in December. Tasmania requires vaccinated international arrivals from most countries to quarantine for seven days.
But Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has not announced any plans to scrap or reduce quarantine for international travellers until the state hits the 90 per cent vaccination threshold.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said that milestone was still expected some time this month; as of Tuesday, 86.6 per cent of Queenslanders aged 16 and over were fully vaccinated.
The spokesperson defended the decision as a "cautious approach".
"While both interstate and overseas hotspots are a concern, the risk profile for overseas hotspots is greater due to several factors, including quality of vaccinations, different variants circulating overseas, and uncertainty in contact tracing processes used in other countries," the spokesperson told 9News.
Brisbane man Seamus, who asked for his last name not to be used, has more reason to be upset with the new rules than most.
Having only recently recovered from COVID-19 contracted while introducing his 21-month-old son to family in Canada for the first time, he needs to get official confirmation from a doctor and multiple PCR tests to apply for an exemption to get back.
That's because PCR tests can still pick up traces of the virus after people have stopped being contagious.
The advertising professional is frustrated that after all these precautions, and money, he will likely still have to undergo two weeks of home quarantine on return to Australia this month.
"You're getting a doctor's letter saying you've done two weeks isolation in your country and you've recovered from COVID and I've got tests to prove it," the double vaccinated Queenslander told 9News.com.au
"It just seems ridiculous to then go back and do two weeks of quarantine after you've basically had to prove that you've had COVID for two weeks."
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He said it was incredibly hard for his wife not to see her family for almost two years after the birth of their son.
"You don't understand what opening borders means," he said, referring to a backlash to the Queensland government's decision to let interstate visitors back in.
"It means that families are not like, blocked from seeing each other. That's what it means.
"It's not 'we're just letting COVID in for the sake of it'. It's opening up for families and people meeting."
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