Melbourne Airport needs to go underground to fix the entire mess. Parking/Terminal transfers/train station, send it all underground. Really is such an inefficient airport and parking in the Long Term is usually a nightmare in terms of time taken from park to terminal. I normally plan for an Hour from leaving aircraft to leaving the car park.
Bring on the train it will make life so much easier, I hope they make it affordable.
The documents are linked to a physical passport, with people asked to provide their passport details when they request the document from Medicare.
The certificate is then sent to the person who requested it, and they can print it off or store it as a file on their smartphone.
Pleasantly surprised that the feds havenāt made a total mess of this stuff - it really wasnāt looking great all that long ago in terms of getting anything done by the end of the year.
Letās wait to see what itās like on Tuesday afternoonā¦ just because theyāve announced it doesnāt mean itāll actually work.
The new certificate reminds me I have to get a new passport soon - my previous one expired in mid 2019. I reckon that during the past 18 months, tens of thousands of Australian passports were left unused and to expire because of the international border closure.
Definitely, and the federal government has already warned of significant delays in passport processing as a result.
Iāve donāt have a passport because Iāve never left Australia 
Iāll need one if I want to travel to NZ ,thatās as far as I want to go
This is the right way to do these initiatives - the ridiculous online ballot / claim systems other states and NSW have previously used that have āsold-outā in minutes isnāt all that fair, and you just know thereās people out there that are gaming the system or just getting it for the sake of it with no plan to use it.
With states coming out of lockdown and summer nearing, I thought Iād throw open the question āWhere are your favourite holiday spots in Australia?ā Would love to hear peopleās recommendations.
My favourite holiday locations:
Victoria
New South Wales
Funny you mention Torquay, I am on the bus back home to Geelong after being down in Torquay for a couple of hours
Lucky I went to Torquay at the end of last month.
Palm Cove and Surrounds When you exit Cairns Airport the rule is you never turn left. Cairns is a shithole.
I love the weather, the tropical downpours overnight, venturing into the Rainforest. The best bit is just how quiet it is, no crowds. I like the crossover between Wet and Dry seasons. Seen some pretty unreal thunderstorms. Scenic flights over the reef. We generally go in August and Feb, outside of school holidays.
Geelong and Surf Coast
As above, Ocean grove right down to Lorne. Love heading to Fairhaven beach in summer. Flying into Avalon is a huge plus for this region also.
Byron Bay and the Central Coast are probably among the most overrated holiday destinations in NSW.
A potentially controversial opinion, but the Gold Coast and Bondi are also incredibly overrated as beaches & tourist areas overall. If you really must visit those parts of the world one day, go somewhere like Tweed Heads or around Coogee/Bronte respectively.
Places like Ulladulla & Nelson Bay (or their surrounding areas) arenāt too bad, provided youāre able to have your trip outside the Summer/Easter peak seasons.
Port Fairy is my favourite place in Victoria.
Agree. If you have to go to that part of the coastline then go one town north to Brunswick Heads or one south to Lennox Head, both are much nicer.
20 years ago, yes. But Port Stephens is now massively overdeveloped and the area around Ulladulla is rapidly heading in the same direction.
Going north from Sydney I am particularly partial to the stretch of coastline between Port Macquarie and Coffs (South West Rocks, Nambucca Heads, Urunga). Further north we have also discovered Yamba in the last couple of years, had one of the most relaxing weeks of my life in Brooms Head in June right before lockdown.
My favourite spot on the south coast is Merimbula. Great little town, great beaches up and down the coast and interesting national parks. The whale watching around there can also be incredible because the whales stop to rest before heading out into the open ocean down to Tassie.
Tathra is more low key than Merimbula (which has a McDonaldsā¦a good proxy for tourist activity). Merimbula turns into an exclave of Victoria during summer as the people of the Garden State seek warmer waters for swimming and boating.
The North Coast is much more crowded overall and spoiler alert: it often has worse weather than the South Coast in summer, as itās closer to the tropics. I was going to mention Brooms Head as one of the few places that is more low key.
I stay at home in January as itās too hot and/or crowded in most places. Canberra is the exception luckily; everyone flees the place in favour of the coast. That will be especially the case this summer. All the more listeners for my Friday drive show 
Qantas has announced it is bringing forward the resumption of international flights from Sydney to five destinations, plus launching a new service from Sydney to Delhi from December 6, subject to government approval.
https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-and-jetstar-gear-up-for-accelerated-border-opening/
A joint media conference with PM Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was held at a Sydney Airport hangar this morning. Morrison told reporters that the federal government is in the final stages of concluding an arrangement with the Singapore Government that will see Australia reopening its borders with Singapore more quickly.
Mineās still valid until 2026, so Iām not needing to renew any time soon. In fact Iāve been often using that as ID to check into hotels.
Reminds me of the time I first got my passport, I was actually pretty fortunate that I applied in Melbourne rather than back at home. Had to get my birth certificate and I was in Melbourne for Marathon weekend at the time with Monday off for my own leisure. Scrounged together enough points and a couple of weeks later my passport was in my hands.