Anyone Returning To NSW From Overseas Will Now Cop A Hefty $3,000 Hotel Quarantine Bill

International travellers returning to NSW will now have to cough up $3,000 to pay for their own 14-day hotel quarantine. That includes Aussie citizens who, until now, could quarantine for free.

Travellers will have to pay $3,000 for one adult and an extra $1,000 for each additional adult, as well as $500 for children over three. This goes towards covering the accommodation itself, while security will still be paid for by the government.

“Australian residents have been given plenty of time to return home, and we feel it is only fair that they cover some of the costs of their hotel accommodation,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

However, there’s still one loophole: anyone who buys their ticket before midnight tonight won’t have to pay for quarantine, no matter date their flight actually arrives.

So far, over 35,000 people have quarantined in Aussie hotels. Around two thirds of those were NSW residents.

“Over the past few weeks, the majority of new COVID-19 cases in NSW have come from overseas travellers in hotel quarantine,” Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres added.

The move is something that’s already being done in Queensland, and other states are expected to follow suit shortly.

Last week, Berejiklian said there was no excuse for people who decide to “hang around for a few days” instead of returning home to NSW.

“That doesn’t cut the mustard,” she said.

It’s part of the NSW government’s attempts to urge people – both overseas and interstate – to return home ASAP.

Charging a family of four $5,000 is one way to do that, apparently.

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