Never Forget What They Did

On March 17 2020, the WHO declared that COVID-19 was a global pandemic.

In July 2020, driven by a 24/7 media cycle, a fearful public and political agendas, the Australian Government actively prevented its citizens and permanent residents returning home from overseas by capping the numbers of passengers allowed on international flights. Australia was the only country in the world to take such a drastic step and lock its own citizens out during a global emergency. Hundreds of thousands of Australians were stranded overseas, and the Australian government only allowed 30 people per international flight to enter the country.

If – by some miracle – we did manage to get home, we were detained in hotels for 14 days. We were not allowed fresh air or human contact apart from the health staff who tested us for COVID on Day 2 and Day 12. We were charged $3,000 for our own detention. The quarantine fee was introduced at the same time as international flight caps. Australians locked out of their own states or territories were also forced into hotel quarantine.

This podcast has come about because of the wonderful people in the Australians Challenging Quarantine Fees Facebook group. The world seems to have moved on, but we are still traumatised by the Australian government's response to the pandemic. And we are still getting invoices for the quarantine fee.

These are our stories because we must Never Forget What They Did.

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Jaksot(12)

Andrea's Story

Andrea – a Queenslander – and her husband had taken their two youngest sons to Germany (the country where she was born) in early 2019, and was there when the pandemic was declared in March 2020. While...

16 Huhti 202337min

Peter's Story

Peter was in south-west China when the pandemic was declared, on a regular business trip and visiting his wife's family. Already experiencing lockdowns in China from early 2020 even before the pandemi...

9 Huhti 202329min

Raewyn's Story

A Kiwi, but now back in New Zealand, Raewyn was living in Victoria with her husband when the pandemic was declared. With most of her family in New Zealand, including parents and children, being able t...

2 Huhti 202326min

Daniel's Story

With business interests that takes him all over the world, Daniel found himself stuck in Zambia in August 2021, trying to get back home to Perth, Western Australia. Unfortunately for him, he was impac...

26 Maalis 202333min

Judy's Story

Judy and her partner, a Kiwi, moved to New Zealand in November 2019. With family in both countries it was their intention to go back and forth between the two. Stuck in New Zealand in 2020 when the pa...

19 Maalis 202330min

Carl's Story

Carl had been living in the UK since 2005 but came back to Australia regularly to visit his mother – who lives in Queensland – and to take care of his tenanted property. When his mother was diagnosed ...

12 Maalis 202327min

Kerry's Story

Kerry had been working in Singapore since 2017 — her first experience as an expat. By 2020, she was feeling homesick and lonely so she returned to Melbourne for six weeks in February, just before the ...

5 Maalis 202338min

Mary and Cubby's Story

Since 2014, retirees Mary and Cubby have been staying in their family apartment on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, spending five months of the year in the UK. They were there when t...

26 Helmi 202336min