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Where To Next? ScoMo Announces Three-Stage COVIDSafe Trip Plan For Australia*

After the latest National Cabinet meeting and update today, PM Scott Morrison (ScoMo) has announced the Governments vision and 3 stage plan* for what the immediate roadmap to a COVIDSafe Australia looks like. But *Conditions apply.

After the latest National Cabinet meeting and update today, PM Scott Morrison (ScoMo) has announced the Governments vision and 3 stage plan* for what the immediate roadmap to a COVIDSafe Australia looks like. But *Conditions apply.

As a nation, we should all be very proud that the majority of us have carefully and respectfully navigated the last two extremely challenging months to reach today’s marker of relative safety.

We’re still not out of the woods yet as they say, but we’re definitely on the right path, and there are now some rays of sunshine streaming in thanks to today’s news.

Sharing some much-needed optimism, ScoMo announced that National Cabinet has today agreed to a three-step plan “and a national framework to achieve a COVID-safe economy and society”.

In a live broadcast to the nation, ScoMo said the goal is to move through all of these steps to achieve a “COVID-safe economy in July of this year”, bringing some level of ‘normality’ to our daily lives.

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Let’s cut to the chase here – What about Interstate travel?

Morrison said interstate closures have never been a recommendation out of the national cabinet and that premiers have taken those decisions “unilaterally” so it will be up to states to remove them.

All being well, as part of stage 2, we could see flying interstate again happen in June.

Asked about the possibility of bringing back international travel, ScoMo was a little more cagey saying:

“There’s nothing on our radar which would see us opening up international travel in the foreseeable future. There are already some very, very minor exceptions, where the Border Force can provide an exemption for outbound travel, but that’s in areas like facilitating development aid in third [world] countries and things like that. It’s a very limited set of circumstances,”

PM Scott Morrison (ScoMo)

So what do the three stages look like? It’s important to note that each step is conditional on it being successful before the next can begin.

Also… Each state has to decide when they will implement each stage.

So here goes…

STAGE 1: (Timing dependent on individual state approvals)

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Credit: Destination NSW
  • Non-essential intra-state travel permitted within states and territories – Hello Roadtrips!
  • Five visitors to be allowed in homes and 10 visitors in businesses and public places
  • Staying working at home if it’s ok for you and your employer
  • More shops to re-open including travel agencies
  • Allowing 10 people in a four sq metre distance in small cafes and restaurants
  • Some libraries and community centres with small groups
  • Playgrounds and boot camps will also be allowed to open

STAGE 2: (Around 4 weeks on from the beginning of Step 1)

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  • Some interstate travel will also be allowed – Potentially opening up more Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin flights
  • Larger gatherings of around 20 – Smaller events re-commence
  • Some states may look at having venues allow more people than that
  • Opening gyms, indoor fitness, beauty therapy, cinemas, amusement parks and galleries

STAGE 3: (Approximately July onwards)

Snow globe
  • All interstate travel
  • The trans-Tasman bubble? Maybe not until August at the earliest
  • A return to the workplace and offices
  • Gatherings of up to 100 people – Hello events and potential fams and smaller conferences
  • The opening of nightclubs, food courts and saunas
  • Other overseas travel not permitted and Australia’s borders would remain otherwise closed. The guesstimation is still early 2021 for any international travel.
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For all of the above to happen, ScoMo says we still need to be cautious and diligent to continue a successful route out of COVID-19 within Australia.

The National Cabinet says they will review the progress of the plan every three weeks and “make any changes as we need to,”

“In this plan, we walk before we run. We know we need to be careful to preserve our gains, if we wish to reclaim the ground we lost, we cannot be too timid. There will be risks. There will be challenges. There will be outbreaks, there will be more cases, there will be setbacks. Not everything will go to plan.”

PM Scott Morrison (ScoMo)

Here’s to continuing that pride as a nation, doing the right thing and ensuring we can get back to living and doing what we love as soon as is humanly possible.

Now go and wash your hands please.