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Image Not Available for Let us introduce ourselves Your Friendly Quarantine Caterers
Let us introduce ourselves Your Friendly Quarantine Caterers
Image Not Available for Let us introduce ourselves Your Friendly Quarantine Caterers

Let us introduce ourselves Your Friendly Quarantine Caterers

Date2021
Object number00056306
NameBrochure
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 296 × 210 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Roland Leikauf
DescriptionThis catering information leaflet is part of a brochure for people undergoing mandatory quarantine in the Centre for National Resilience, also called the Howard Springs Quarantine facility or Manigurr-Ma camp. It introduces the catering team and contains information about the food services the people in facility quarantine could expect during their two-week mandatory stay. Travel, immigration and quarantine are intimately connected. Quarantine stations like North Head in Sydney (opened 1832 and in use until 1984) were an important part of international travel and are rooted in the idea of treating both returning citizens and new immigrants as a health risk. During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries adopted systems that had similarities to historical approaches to quarantine. This included both the creation of improvised (hotels) and organized (camps) as ways of quarantining travellers.HistoryTravel, immigration and quarantine are intimately connected. Quarantine stations like North Head in Sydney (opened 1832 and in use until 1984) were an important part of international travel and are rooted in the idea of treating both returning citizens and new immigrants as a health risk. Quarantining travellers directly on their mode of transport (like ships) proved to be slow and inefficient, so dedicated camps and stations were created, where the travellers were supposed to stay for a specific time after arrival. During the COVID-19 pandemic, countries adopted systems that had similarities to historical approaches to quarantine. This included both the creation of improvised (hotels) and organized (camps) as ways of quarantining travellers. Those who wanted to either migrate or return to Australia were split in two “classes” based on their mode of travel, and they were treated very differently, even though all had to quarantine for two weeks. Travellers who were able to find the rare non-cancelled flight to Australia with a commercial airline had to enter hotel quarantine. Their place of quarantine was based on the state they travelled in, the airport where they arrived and bureaucratic decisions they had no influence on. Citizens and permanent residents had access to repatriation flights (direct flights from differing locations), and were all transported to the same location: the Centre for National Resilience, also known as the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility or Manigurr-Ma village , a former FIFO accommodation camp close to Darwin in the Northern Territory. In some of its aspects, the centre is very reminiscent of historical quarantine facilities: a highly regulated space created by the government that restricts personal freedoms to combat the threat of spreading diseases. During their stay, the travellers had to stay in separate one-person cabins and on their porch except on laundry days, when the laundry facilities were accessible for a short amount of time for specified huts. The cost for quarantine was $2500 per person, including three meals per day that were delivered contactless to the huts. This catering information leaflet is part of the brochure for people undergoing mandatory quarantine. It introduces the catering team and contains information about the food services the people in facility quarantine could expect during their two-week mandatory stay.SignificanceAs an everyday item that is useful only for one specific situation, it is to be expected that this type of item will be lost quickly after the quarantine facility is no longer in use. It should technically be available either in the National Archives of Australia or the Northern Territory Archives, but it is increasingly possible that only the digital version of these items will exist as the definitive source. Searches on websites where objects of this type are usually sold have not been successful.
As an object, the guide is one of the few artefacts that can be connected to the new (and in some ways very old) kind of quarantine that was created specifically for the Coronavirus pandemic.