• About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Login
Newsletter
NRI Affairs
Youtube Channel
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Student Hub
  • Business
  • Travel
  • Events
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Student Hub
  • Business
  • Travel
  • Events
  • Other
No Result
View All Result
NRI Affairs
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Exemptions for 75 foreign nationals to enter Australia criticised

NRI Affairs News Desk by NRI Affairs News Desk
August 5, 2021
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
0
Exemptions for 75 foreign nationals to enter Australia criticised
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Advertisements

New South Wales Greens MLC David Shoebridge has criticised the decision to allow religious groups to travel internationally and take the spots of citizens who may have “pressing personal needs”.

Australian Government’s decision to grant exemptions for 75 foreign nationals with ‘critical skills in religion or theology’ to enter the country in the first half of this year, while the Australian border remains shut due to Covid-19, has drawn flak from New South Wales Member of Parliament David Shoebridge.

The Department of Home Affairs issued the travel exemptions under the critical skills category, using the codes for minister of religion or religious assistant.

Anyone who is not a citizen or permanent resident requires a travel exemption to enter Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Australian Government issued about 20,000 permits between January and June this year overall, a majority under the ‘critical skills’ category. This was after expertise in “religious or theology fields” was added to the list of critical skills in August last year.

Despite the Australian border being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Sydney-based co-founders of the global Pentecostal Christian church Hillsong preached in person at a service in Mexico. This was confirmed in images and messages shared on Instagram which confirmed that they took part in a service at the Hillsong Monterrey congregation in Mexico on Monday.

“I know it’s a particular kick in the guts for many people particularly in multicultural Australia to see some of their permissions being given to Hillsong preachers to travel internationally on those scarce spots when they know that their family members and members in their community can’t see loved ones who are very ill, can’t have those pressing personal needs to travel satisfied because of the COVID measures.” – David Shoebridge, NSW MLC (Greens)

Advertisements

David Shoebridge said, ““Right across Greater Sydney, there’s real anxiety as we’re seeing COVID numbers increasing. That anxiety is being particularly felt in South West and Western Sydney where the lockdown is even more intense. That’s part of the heart of multicultural Sydney and we know that those communities have multiple pressures at the moment and one of those is the long-standing inability to go and visit relatives overseas and have relatives come back because of the lockdown measures. I can tell you now that the Greens are working at every level we can to increase the number of safe returns, to increase the number of quarantine services available, so that we can have those family reunions and family connections return as rapidly as possible.”

“I know it’s a particular kick in the guts for many people particularly in multicultural Australia to see some of their permissions being given to Hillsong preachers to travel internationally on those scarce spots when they know that their family members and members in their community can’t see loved ones who are very ill, can’t have those pressing personal needs to travel satisfied because of the COVID measures. We need to be all in this together, we need to look after each other and I can tell you now, we are doing everything to ensure that those safe quarantine numbers increase so that we can keep those connections, keep families connected even in the middle of this crisis.”, Mr Shoebridge added.

Brian and Bobbie Houston, the husband and wife team who are co-global senior pastors at Hillsong Church, have been based in the United States for several months, despite the Australian border being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A church spokesperson confirmed the Houstons also gained an exemption to travel to the US for several months last year.

More than 38,000 Australians are currently stranded overseas due to COVID-19.

Featured image by Nandhu Kumar from Pexels

Logo2
NRI Affairs News Desk

NRI Affairs News Desk

NRI Affairs News Desk

Related Posts

UN Official Condemns India’s Failure to Protect Muslims After Kashmir Terror Attack
News

UN Official Condemns India’s Failure to Protect Muslims After Kashmir Terror Attack

June 15, 2025
Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi government of ‘match-fixing’ Maharashtra elections
News

Rahul Gandhi accuses Modi government of ‘match-fixing’ Maharashtra elections

June 8, 2025
Narendra Modi Invited to G7 Summit in Canada Amid Political Controversy
News

Narendra Modi Invited to G7 Summit in Canada Amid Political Controversy

June 7, 2025
Next Post
NSW invites interest for the Subclass 491 Visa

NSW invites interest for the Subclass 491 Visa

NSW invites interest for the Subclass 491 Visa

NSW opens visa program for applicants from all states

Tokyo Olympics Men’s Hockey: Ruthless Australia rout India 7-1

Hockey: "Great Wall of India – could not be beaten", tweets Australian Envoy to India

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

New-Bill-to-Retain-STEM Graduates-in-the-U.S.

New Bill to Retain STEM Graduates in the U.S.

11 months ago
Thousands of visitors flock to Australia’s national parks each year – and many take silly risks. How do we keep people safe?

Thousands of visitors flock to Australia’s national parks each year – and many take silly risks. How do we keep people safe?

1 year ago
covid-19

The Unprecedented Impact of COVID-19 on Global Life Expectancy: A Decade of Progress Erased

1 year ago
Cancelled

Indian citizen’s permanent visa cancelled for ‘bogus’ proof of ‘proficient English’

4 years ago

Categories

  • Business
  • Events
  • Literature
  • Multimedia
  • News
  • nriaffairs
  • Opinion
  • Other
  • People
  • Student Hub
  • Top Stories
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Visa

Topics

Air India Australia california Canada caste china COVID-19 cricket election Europe Gaza Germany Green Card h1b visa Hindu immigration India india-australia Indian Indian-American Indian-origin indian diaspora indian origin indian student Indian Students Khalistan London Modi Narendra Modi New Zealand NRI NSW Pakistan Palestine Singapore student students travel trump UAE uk US USA Victoria visa
NRI Affairs

© 2025 NRI Affairs.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Visa
  • Student Hub
  • Business
  • Travel
  • Events
  • Other

© 2025 NRI Affairs.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com