Wellcamp to welcome first guests as international students return in new year
Queensland plans to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international students in time for the first semester next year.
Innovation Minister Stirling Hinchliffe says up to 250 international students will be allowed to fly into Queensland per week and quarantine at the stateās facility at Wellcamp, near Toowoomba, which is still under construction.
He says the plan needs federal government approval with state also asking for international flights to be permitted to land at Wellcamp Airport.
āIām pleased to announce today that weāve taken the next most important step in welcoming international students back to Queensland,ā Hinchliffe told parliament.
āOur Queensland student arrival plan has been sent to the federal government for approval. This will see the return of international students to study in Queensland in 2022.ā
The minister said initially 250 students would arrive per week, but that would be scaled up as time went on.
You might like
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the decision is a win-win.
āThis is why we went it alone to make Wellcamp a reality,ā the Premier said.
āIt gives Queensland an opportunity other states donāt have.ā
The decision is a lifeline for the stateās universities.Ā Before the pandemic, Queenslandās international education sector was worth an estimated $5.8 billion.
Stay informed, daily
The Wellcamp facility is under construction at Wellcamp Airport.
Students studying medical research and allied health degrees will be prioritised, Hinchliffe said, so they can potentially back up the stateās health system after it reopens the borders.
Hinchliffe said if the federal government does not approve international flights landing at Wellcamp, students will be bussed there from Brisbane Airport.
Only fully vaccinated students will be allowed to enter Queensland from overseas under the plan.
āThis is important for us to do until we have higher vaccination rates amongst Queenslanders,ā Hinchliffe said.
āWe donāt know if and when mutation number five will arrive, but our best defence is vaccination.
āThatās why weāre urging all Queenslanders to get double-vaxxed for themselves, for their family and their communities.ā
Hinchliffe said there were more than 20,000 international university students currently enrolled in Queensland, who have been undertaking online education in their 160 home countries.
He said the sector delivered $5.8 billion to the economy and supported 27,500 jobs annually
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
