Covid-19: From ‘Fortress Australia’ to a gilded cage

Once the envy of all other nations for its zero-Covid achievement, Australia is now so far behind on vaccination that global travel is only now being contemplated – and initially just for citizens

With the rest of the world moving on from lockdowns as the virus becomes endemic elsewhere, Australia has been divided over what its next steps should be

“We haven’t been able to travel home since we arrived,” Judith Thompson, a 30-year-old Irishwoman, told the Business Post this weekend. “As a result, we postponed our wedding twice because the borders were closed.”

Thompson, who is from Co Antrim, moved to Melbourne in Australia with her partner almost two and a half years ago,

In December 2020, she gave in to reality and married her husband in a small ceremony on a beach on ...