- National Cabinet is set to seek guidance from AHPPC
- AHPPC will advise on border quarantine arrangements
- Experts warn higher immigration will fuel house price growth further
The Property Council of Australia (PCA) has welcomed the National Cabinet’s recent decision to receive guidance from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) regarding future frameworks on Australia’s border quarantine arrangements.
In particular, the AHPPC will advise the Federal Government on what thresholds will need to be meet before Australians can travel overseas again and additionally what quarantine arrangement would be required pending a successful rollout of Phase 1A and 1B.
This includes exploring the possibility of adopting a home-based quarantine model for those who have been vaccinated. According to Our World in Data, as of 12 April over 788 million people globally have been vaccinated, although only just over a million Australians have so far been given doses.
The news comes as the two-way trans-Tasman bubble is set to start on 19 April.
“The safe reopening of international borders is one of the biggest decisions facing Australia and this review is an important step in enabling this to happen.”
“Australia needs greater clarity and consistency not just around our domestic restrictions but also around the implications of the vaccine rollout on our international quarantine arrangements.”
Ken Morrison, Chief Executive PCA
The Property Council argues that population growth is a vital ingredient to Australia’s economic success – although Australia’s economy has rebounded significantly despite recording little – and in fact for one quarter, negative – population growth.
“Australia can stay safe and accelerate economic recovery by ramping up our quarantine arrangements to enable ten times the current capacity.”
However, some experts warn increasing the migration rate will further exacerbate housing prices.
AMP Capital Chief Economist, Shane Oliver, said immigration should be limited to make housing more affordable.
“The best ways to make Australian housing more affordable are to limit the return of immigration to enable housing oversupply to build up and to reinforce the pandemic in encouraging people to relocate from expensive inner-city areas to more affordable suburbs, cities and regional centres.”
Shane Oliver, AMP Capital Chief Economist (March 2021)
