Australia's Butler Says Three-Week Quarantine Needed After Cruise Virus Outbreak | APT

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Right.

[00:00:03]>> [clears throat] >> Well, okay.

[00:00:07]Okay. About 8 days ago Flights are still in the process of being finalized. This is a complex operation that often involves is likely to involve a couple of different countries and we'll be in a position to provide further updates one once those flights finalized.

[00:00:27]>> [clears throat] >> Now my very strong view and the view of our government is that quarantine and return arrangements should be the subject of a national decision rather than separate state government decisions. I've had a long-standing view that quarantine particularly for the entry of citizens returning or or non-citizens into Australia should always be governed by federal arrangements.

[00:00:53]This will require us to list the Hantavirus as a listed human disease under the Biosecurity Act, which is an act that effectively replaced the old Quarantine Act that's been in place for about 120 years.

[00:01:08]An order will then be made. That listing will happen over the next 24 hours before the return of those Australians and that New Zealander.

[00:01:17]And an order will then be made for those passengers to be subject to quarantine arrangements at the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience, which is just northeast of Perth at next door to HMAS Stirling base piers.

[00:01:34]We've taken a precautionary approach here and put in place at least initially a 3-week quarantine order at this center. Obviously, we will be monitoring advice about what should happen beyond those 3 weeks. There is an incubation period of 42 days potentially for this virus, but that incubate or the the risk of transmission obviously drops off after the first few weeks. So, we'll be seeking further advice from our chief health officers.

[00:02:03]You know, I do make no apology for the fact that this is one of the stronger responses you will see around the world.

[00:02:09]Many other countries are putting in place quarantine orders at a center like this or a hospital only for two or three days rather than 3 weeks. A distinguishing factor for Australia though is that these passengers will have to come home on quite a long flight from Tenerife unlike traveling just to the UK, for example, probably in a relatively small plane with a higher risk of transmission during transit than would be the case traveling from Tenerife to the UK, for example. Yeah.

[00:02:40]Thanks, everyone.