Avalon Airport<\/a> chief executive officer Justin Giddings suggested a national approach to the quarantine system, and backed the idea that a quarantine facility could be built in the ample space at his airport.<\/p>\n\u201cBeing able to fly people in from overseas, returning residents or even international students, being able to walk across into accommodation which is designed to allow you to go outside to get some fresh air, and spend your 14 days there isolated, have your testing, completely away from anybody else is a really good idea and something we\u2019d be prepared to support.\u201d<\/p>\n
At a press conference on Tuesday, Premier Daniel Andrews said his government was actively pursuing and examining the construction of a facility similar to the one at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople would be in the same location but not sharing the same spaces, so they\u2019re not under the same roofline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be a cabin-style, village-style environment, where there would be fresh air, where there would be not zero risk but lower risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Andrews said that work was ongoing and a delegation of senior officials would travel to the Northern Territory as soon as practicable to see first-hand how the Howard Springs facility was set up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two obvious candidates – Avalon Airport, you\u2019ve got space and you\u2019ve got an international terminal; and, of course, Melbourne Airport as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will pursue both of those, do that work, it\u2019s well and truly under way and we will report progress as that happened but I think we do have to have a proper conversation at a National Cabinet level about what we can do, what further can we do to reduce the risk particularly in light of this UK strain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more than just scoping it. We are going to get on and build a facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of how big it is and the more precise details of where, but Avalon and Melbourne airports are stand-out candidates and I\u2019m very grateful to them for the partnership and work they\u2019ve already done with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two local Liberal MPs, Polwarth MP Richard Riordan and Member for Western Victoria Beverly McArthur, also support a regional quarantine site at Avalon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe airport brings a secure, segregated environment, with sufficient land capacity to operate an entirely safe and isolated quarantine facility and represents a real opportunity to transform Victoria\u2019s approach to hotel quarantine,\u201d Ms McArthur said.<\/p>\n
Victoria ended its five-day snap lockdown as of 11.59pm yesterday (Wednesday, February 17).<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Mr Andrews could not definitively commit to the lockdown ending as scheduled but said the state was \u201cwell-placed to be able to make changes tomorrow night\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AVALON Airport is among the leaders for a COVID-19 quarantine facility purpose-built by the state government, with Premier Daniel Andrews describing the Geelong airport as an \u201cobvious candidate\u201d. The new facility would host some, if not most, of the international travellers who need to isolate for two weeks and are presently staying in hotels in […]<\/p>\n
Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":37668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-37667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAndrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AVALON Airport is among the leaders for a COVID-19 quarantine facility purpose-built by the state government, with Premier Daniel Andrews describing the Geelong airport as an \u201cobvious candidate\u201d. The new facility would host some, if not most, of the international travellers who need to isolate for two weeks and are presently staying in hotels in [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Geelong Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\"},\"headline\":\"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":527,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Untitled-design-1-2.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/\",\"name\":\"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Untitled-design-1-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Untitled-design-1-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/Untitled-design-1-2.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Avalon Airport, pictured here in April 2020, has large amounts of undeveloped land. Photo: MICHAEL DODGE\\\/AAP\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/news\\\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Geelong Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/times_logo_1.png\",\"width\":248,\"height\":37,\"caption\":\"Geelong Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45\",\"name\":\"James Taylor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Taylor\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/geelongtimes\\\/author\\\/james\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times","og_description":"AVALON Airport is among the leaders for a COVID-19 quarantine facility purpose-built by the state government, with Premier Daniel Andrews describing the Geelong airport as an \u201cobvious candidate\u201d. The new facility would host some, if not most, of the international travellers who need to isolate for two weeks and are presently staying in hotels in [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/","og_site_name":"Geelong Times","article_published_time":"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"James Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James Taylor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/"},"author":{"name":"James Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45"},"headline":"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site","datePublished":"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/"},"wordCount":527,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/","name":"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site - Geelong Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png","datePublished":"2021-02-17T14:12:31+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2021\/02\/Untitled-design-1-2.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Avalon Airport, pictured here in April 2020, has large amounts of undeveloped land. Photo: MICHAEL DODGE\/AAP"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/andrews-says-avalon-obvious-contender-for-quarantine-site\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Andrews says Avalon \u201cobvious\u201d contender for quarantine site"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","name":"Geelong Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#organization","name":"Geelong Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2020\/09\/times_logo_1.png","width":248,"height":37,"caption":"Geelong Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c1765be3a722a2023e6ce64487db8b45","name":"James Taylor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8806dd1b3d7d759df0e11347cb4538247cb0593856e831613ecbf76c9c59eb4b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"James Taylor"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/author\/james\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37667"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=37667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}