Source::AP
CANBERRA,
A majority of Australians support keeping the country's borders closed until the coronavirus pandemic has passed. According to a Guardian Essential poll published on Tuesday, 71 percent of voters agreed that quarantine-free travel to Australia should not resume until the end of the public health crisis.
The Australian government closed the borders to all travellers except residents and citizens in March 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Brendan Murphy, the secretary of the Department of Health who was Chief Medical Officer (CMO) when the borders were closed, said in January that international travel to and from Australia was unlikely to resume in 2021.
In comments that contradicted the government's previous indications that the border would re-open in the middle of 2021, Murphy said that "substantial restrictions" would remain in place regardless of the vaccine rollout. The Guardian poll also found that 62 percent of respondents agreed that the federal government should "manage the hotel quarantine system."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Health Minister Greg Hunt have both dismissed suggestions from Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, that the federal government should take over the running of hotel quarantine after a breach in Victoria triggered the state's third coronavirus lockdown.
Despite the "circuit breaker" lockdown, the Guardian Essential poll found that approval of Andrews' response to the pandemic remained high at 59 percent. More than half of respondents said state leaders have demonstrated better leadership than Morrison, but 69 percent rated the federal government's pandemic management as either good or very good.
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