Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham urged people to "see Australia first" when the curbs are eased over time but said bans on international travel would remain while the virus raged overseas.

Asked whether the international bans would stay for this calendar year or beyond, Senator Birmingham said: "It's very difficult to predict and nobody should be getting ahead of themselves at the present."

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Australian Tourism Export Council managing director Peter Shelley said .... "We'd be optimistic about something happening in the fourth quarter of this year but, really, it's probably toward the end of the year or the start of next year," he said.