There has been confusion over whether it would be a user-pays requirement for entry into Queensland, at a cost of up to $150 per person.
States such as South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia require negative PCR COVID-19 tests 72 hours before entry under their re-opening border rules.
Mr Hunt has confirmed in a statement the Commonwealth and States jointly fund tests for people that require one under a public health order, such as a domestic travel requirement.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has welcomed the commitment.
“I said we work best when we work together,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “This proves it.
Queensland is set to open to fully vaccinated people who return a negative COVID test 72 hours before travel on December 17, or earlier once the state reaches 80 per cent fully vaccinated.
For days, Queensland ministers have been trying to pressure the federal government to pay for the tests so that travellers would not have to foot the bill.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she did not want to argue with the Commonwealth.
“Now is not the time to fight. Now is the time to work together,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“Greg Hunt can quite easily make it a Medicare rebate. He can do that with the stroke of a pen.”
Mr Hunt had written to the Queensland Health Minister to “raise concerns” over why the state is testing travellers and questioning why it wasn’t considering rapid antigen testing.
He referenced an Australian Health Protection Principal Committee statement saying “large-scale, non-targeted, asymptomatic testing in Australia should be strongly discouraged”.
Turns out, it’s free for travellers
The days of back-and-forth over whether a family of four would pay $600 for testing to enter seems to be a moot point.
Mr Hunt’s office confirmed travellers do not have to pay if they require a test as a result of a state or territory public health order and only a text message is required for the result.
“This includes travel domestically as a result of a state’s border restriction, close contacts without symptoms — i.e., where a positive case may have attended a shopping centre — [and] workplace testing requirements in high-risk settings,” Mr Hunt said in a statement.with abcnews
