To the lawyers out there, sorry in advance for my English.
I have an online retail business in the last 7 years, registered for GST for 6 years.
Flew to Israel on FEB 2020 when they had 0 covid cases so I can hire same language speaking employees in hopes we get along better and I could pay less for talent. Plus I used to do standup for 2-3 years and wanted to try in Israel and also wanted to invest in startups and even paid a lawyer to help me with that so long story short it was a business trip.
In June 2020 I bought my first flight ticket with Qatar airways and it was cancelled, in July Cathay pacific cancelled, both because of the flight caps laws.
I had the choice of buying more tickets not knowing if I get refunded or flying somewhere else because I couldn’t cross the 183 days stay in Israel or ill become a tax resident and will have to pay even more so in every scenario I would lose unknown amount of money which go as high as 100k,
I flew to the UK and waited for the promised repatriation flights to bring all Aussies home before Christmas because my flight tickets took 5 months to get refunded and they were not refunded fully and I saw many people wasting a ton of money with 10+ cancelled flights plus didn’t want to get infected and infect anyone.
In December 2020 the prime minister cried on the news asking for forgiveness for not being able to bring all Aussies home so I realized I wasted my time and money waiting.
In January 2021 I flew to Israel to get vaccinated and February 2020 I got my second Pfizer dose.
During all those months I was registered with DFAT and emailed my situation but still didn’t receive any help or repatriation flights.
Finally in May 2021 they sent the repatriation flight which cost 2200$+2500$ quarantine + tests+ extra flight to Turkey to get on the flight and from Darwin to Melbourne.
During those long 15 months overseas I smoked way more cigarettes than usual, my haemorrhoids got way out of control, I was so sick I almost died and I spent around 30,000$ just on renting cheap one room Airbnb apartments, not to mention the missed opportunities to make money if I was in Australia.
Long story short, I’m considering to go to court and asking for compensation.
How much do you think I deserve? How much I’ll probably get and how much it will probably cost me?
Also did you see cases like that and can you recommend a lawyer?
Thank you.
Flight Caps Mess, Legal Advice
closed Comments
This.
Sorry, but the flight caps are only one part of the cause of the limited flights into Australia.
The 17th March 2020 announcement was primarily a warning that airlines were talking about scaling down operations and mothballing their aircraft fleets.
You chose to remain abroad when you were warned that you would otherwise experience what you have. What did you expect the Australian government to do other than ask you to hurry back? Send commandos to forcibly bring you back? LOL.
Nice one, thanks for your advice, I was busy crying over the financial crash that month because I almost lost everything and I don't remember tickets cheaper than 3000$ with 2+ stops and 40-50 hours layovers so decided to wait a few more weeks and then I got sick so bad it took me a month and a half to recover.
Also it's important to note that i'm a 28 year old moron and if I knew this virus will cause so much damage I would keep buying business tickets until I get lucky.
You should write a book or a blog about the whole experience. Some of the most successful people have lost everything and used what they learned to excel in whatever they do next
My wife went through the same thing as you did (had to wait a while year to come back to Australia due to flight caps, restrictions and so on). She was lucky though she had family to rely on overseas so did not spend as much money as you did.
As for your legal case, don't think there's much you can do. I think there was a case recently that was overturned in regards to Australians not being able to leave the country, although it was 'against' human rights or something. Not to mention there are literally hundreds if not thousands who would have been in the same situation as you and would had have to suck it up.
So you went overseas to find cheap immigrant labour during a time when you knew there was massive uncertainty about travelling, and now want the taxpayers to pay for your bad decision?
Not sure what the rest of your blog post has to do with anything.
No one knew much in February, there were no masks, no fear, no one bought toilet paper yet.
I think it's reasonable to compensate for the pain caused to a few Aussies out there, some are still struggling overseas, this is one of the cruellest countries toward citizens overseas who on the one hand protected Aussie lives but at the expense of cases like mine and much worse.You have spent hundreds of millions on koalas and other animals and you barely did anything for Aussies overseas which by the way contribute to your taxes and those are your assets, you hurt me so bad I think I have brain damage after this year. I used to do standup and make people laugh now i'm complaining on this forum instead and i'm afraid ill keep complaining for the rest of my life now, not to mention no more exports overseas and ill probably die of lung cancer and the tax money you saved by not spending less than a million per plane to fly 150 people home will probably cost you even more.
Also if I paid 2500$ for quarantine, 2200$+ for the repatriation flight that included 140-150 people, how the hell did the tax payer even lose money on that?
2200$ * 140 people = 308k lets breakdown costs - 10 employees max on the plane multiplied by the amount of hours they worked plus fuel plus other costs plus all the employees in the Darwin quarantine facility and my wild guess is you should have spent way more money to help your assets overseas but I don't have the data and even those who do have the data can't calculate the pain vs money in my opinion this equation is too complicated.
I sincerely hope that the shit I went through helped save some lives but now you have to read this shit and I probably will demand my compensation.You know the airline companies get the money for the repatriation flights right?
I used one from the ME and it was $2250 as was set by the airline, not the embassy/Australia.
"I used to do standup and make people laugh…"
Don't worry mate, your skill in that area is undiminished. :)
Yes, it's completely everyone else's fault that you wanted to make more profit by hiring cheap overseas labour. The Australian government then forced you to make a tonne of cigarettes, the absolute animals. You should get $100 million for your suffering.
If they did that to you are you 100% sure you wouldn't demand even a little compensation for the pain they caused? look at the world no one is losing so much money on cancelled flight tickets and barely anyone introduced flight caps and if they did you can book a hotel like New zealand did but no, you went a step beyond that cruelty and now you will not even compensate for the pain you caused? you think u can just sacrifice lives like that without consequences?
They didn't do anything to you, you did it to yourself. Noni wouldn't demand compensation, as I prefer to take responsibilty for my own actions, not whine like a child when I do something stupid.
@brendanm: I hope when you make a stupid mistake you will get stuck overseas and lose a ton of money for 15 months
I sympathise with your situation and I think it was horrible that Aussies got stranded overseas because of government action and were not allowed to exercise a fundamental human right to return to one's country.
I am pessimistic that your claim would be successful because, sadly, judges in Australia have no respect for justice or human rights, and will usually side with the government.
The most realistic scenario of getting compensation is for the government to be pressured so much by yours and similar cases, that they themselves offer some compensation.
The best way to start would be to try and get in touch with other people with similar situations as yours, and then to explore ways of pressuring the government. It would need to involve some way of publicising your cases as a group through the media. Politicians are very sensitive to a report on the evening news that makes them look bad and they are most likely to cave-in and offer something if there is some sustained media reporting on this issue.
You went overseas at the start of a global pandemic. Blind Freddy could see in February that this thing was getting out of control and you still decided to go overseas. You didn't follow travel advice to return home and decided after months of lockdowns and border restriction to "game" your way home.
Did you have travel insurance? If you are going after the government for compensation, good luck, you're not getting any of my money for your gamble.I'm already getting your money by contributing less to Australia because of the brain damage caused while I was overseas. I used to employ people here and export product overseas and do standup on a weekly basis for 3 years. Now I assure i'm closer to dying from lung cancer while your tax payer money pays for it and now your reading this shit so i'm also wasting your time. You spent more money saving animals than saving your own assets overseas and you had one of the most cruel policies towards citizens overseas in the whole world and you paid and will keep paying for it.
If you hate Australia so much why not stay overseas and leave the rest of us sane enough not to travel during a pandemic alone? You are the cheapskate trying to get 'talent' at a cheaper rate by importing professionals, well that worked out great for you didn't it? Your smoking was your choice, not mine, once again it was silly of you to comfort yourself with cancer sticks, good job.
Maybe you could make a Netflix special like Ricky or Jimmy to offset your costs? If you're any good maybe you could make it back, but I doubt it.@Poopacabra: You keeping saying 'you' a lot but 'we' had/have ZERO say in any of the stuff you are complaining about.
Why would you get compensation? You went overseas when you knew you shouldn't. It is like walking in front of a bus and demanding compensation. Everything that happened to you, you did to yourself. You deserve nothing but shame for being so stupid.
Yeah i'm stupid but did any of you predict that and if so why didn't you short the stock market? bought masks? I don't remember anyone worrying or talking about it in FEBRUARY 2020. If I knew this shit would happen you think i would still fly overseas? I see where this is going and I'm starting to regret posting it. Instead of saying maybe or yes you deserve a small compensation or no i don't think so, you gonna piece me off with your comments on purpose.
You didn't start trying to get home until June. Maybe you didn't know what was going to happen before you booked but you would have known by mid February or March and should have immediately tried to get home. Mid March the prime minister told all Australians to get home ASAP. But you ignored that because you were gambling on trying to make money.
By the way there are people with actual genuine reasons for not coming home when they were told to - eg caring for a sick relative, being with their large family and being unable to get enough tickets on one flight etc. Trying to get cheap employees and rustle up business is not one of those genuine reasons. If anyone is getting compensation there is a long line of people in front of you.
Look, I know you think your right and i'm biased to think i'm right and I love you but don't be so cruel, the panic started in March, the market meltdown started in merch, they froze the entire trading o nthe stock market multiple times, I checked tickets everyday they flight were not being stable, I remember the best flight I saw was 2 stops, one somewhere in Europe and one in Japan for 50 hours, I was devastated financially I was scared to book and was hoping it will get better next month, then I got very very sick and it took me like 6 weeks to recover, then I booked the flight tickets and then the cruel flight caps were introduced.
I'm not against quarantine, I just think that the people you hurt deserve a bit of compensation for the pain you caused them, maybe I'm wrong and a minority always has to suffer for the majority to enjoy life but that doesn't make you right either so stop being so cruel.
I sympathise with your plight OP. I’m based overseas for work so I know better than anyone how difficult it is to get back home. But this once in a century pandemic is one of life’s curve balls that nature throws up. No use suing anyone or becoming more bitter. Just accept it and move on. You’re clearly a funny guy - I haven’t read a more humorous screed in a long time - so perhaps work on your repertoire and perfect that timing. Cause you’ve clearly shown none of that here.
North Korea doesn't allow their citizens to leave the country without permission from the government.
Any country that don't allow their citizens to return is just as bad.
I don't understand…
You said "In January 2021 I flew to Israel to get vaccinated and February 2020 I got my second Pfizer dose."
Did you time travel?
How about taking accountability for your own actions and stop trying to bludge off the Australian taxpayer.
If that happened to you maybe you would understand, I'm done commenting here, thanks a lot for your help.
I’m not a lawyer.
The headline from 17th March 2020 was “ The Department of Foreign Affairs has advised Australians to return home as soon as possible by commercial means because overseas travel is becoming “more complex and difficult” as countries impose travel restrictions and close their borders.”
You didn’t follow that advice.
Maybe you can sue Pfizer cos of the haemorrhoids