Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he’s not concerned about China threatening retaliatory action with new COVID testing requirements due to come into effect.
Travellers from China will need to return a negative COVID test within 48 hours of departure from Thursday despite Australia’s chief medical officer recommending against the new measure.
China criticised the measures, threatening to retaliate with reciprocal measures.
But details of the measures remain unclear, with China already requiring a negative test within 48 hours of departure and travellers only able to board a flight with a negative result.
China is fighting a nationwide outbreak of the coronavirus after abruptly easing restrictions that were in place for much of the pandemic.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the entry restrictions targeting China lacked scientific bases.
“We are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the COVID measures for political purposes and will take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity,” she said.
Dr Chalmers says he’s not particularly concerned about the threat.
“Not especially,” he told ABC radio when asked if the threat of retaliation worried him.
“Countries will make their own decisions about travel arrangements and how they manage COVID more broadly.”
Dr Chalmers added that the requirement to have a medical practitioner supervise a rapid antigen test wasn’t an onerous one for travellers despite China’s hospital system facing immense strain.
The treasurer also maintained the measures were not discriminatory despite no new COVID-19 variants being discovered in China, saying the decision was cautionary with Beijing not being forthcoming with data.
“It’s about a part of the world where we’ve got concerns about transparency … and where there is quite an extraordinarily large wave of COVID,” he said.
“We do need to make sure that we’ve got the best possible surveillance of strains as they emerge but also waves as they emerge and become more difficult to manage.
“That’s really one of the key considerations here as we put these responsible restrictions in place.”
Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the government needed to explain why it didn’t follow expert advice after Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly advised there were no public health reasons for the measure.
“This government made a commitment to the Australian public that we were going to learn to live with COVID,” she told Sky News.
“A decision that has been based without any medical advice or medical necessity shows we aren’t really pursuing that.
“It’s a breach of faith with the Australian public about that commitment to say we were going to get on with our lives.”
Australian Medical Association President Steve Robson says a genuine strategy rather than a “series of political responses” is needed to keep Australians safe.
“We want to see a comprehensive strategy that’s informed by public health practice, to just say, ‘what needs to be done to protect Australians at this vulnerable time?'” he told AAP.
By Dominic Giannini and Alex Mitchell in Canberra
