MP who likened the overseas travel ban to North Korea slams government for extending international border closures and accuses them of not considering separated families

An MP who likened Australia's ban on overseas holidays to North Korea has accused the government of ignoring the long-term effects of separating families and friends.

Australia on March 20 became one of the very few countries in the world to prevent their citizens from leaving for social reasons as visitors were barred from entering.

Health Minister Greg Hunt on Tuesday announced the biosecurity emergency would be extended for another three months, which means overseas holidays and family visits are can't occur until at least March 2021.

Zali Steggall, the independent federal member for Warringah on Sydney's Northern Beaches, in August compared Australia's travel ban with Kim Jong-un's Communist dictatorship.

An MP who likened Australia's ban on overseas holidays to North Korea has accused the government of ignoring the long-term effects of separating families and friends. Zali Steggall , the member for Warringah, is pictured with fellow independent MP Helen Haines

Using a broken heart emoji, the Winter Olympian now in Parliament said:  

'There are many stories. Restrictions for travelling IN and OUT of Aus means we are currently aligned with North Korea with closed outward bound borders!

'We can show compassion and flexibility without compromising health and safety.'

Ms Steggall, whose harbour and beach-side electorate is among the wealthiest in Australia, said a three-month extension of this travel ban would have psychological consequences.

'It has very real and distressing consequences on Australians, their families and loved ones. We have had many people from Warringah writing to us in despair as they try to reunite with family members or partners,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'The government cannot continue extending the travel ban without long term planning or proper analysis of its impact. 

Zali Steggall, the independent federal member for Warringah on Sydney's Northern Beaches, in August compared Australia's travel ban with North Korea

'Whilst I understand the health reasons behind the travel ban when it was first established, we remain one of the very few countries with such draconian restrictions.'

UN human rights charter on movement

Article 13:

(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Source: United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as proclaimed by the UN General Assembly, December 10, 1948 

Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, who Ms Steggall last year defeated in Warringah, in August was given an exemption to travel to the UK to accept a job as a trade envoy in Great Britain.

Ms Steggall, a climate change-focused MP, slammed the double standards for business, without mentioning her electoral predecessor. 

'There have also been too many reports of double standards, and preferential treatment for business over personal needs for travel,' she said.

Australians wanting to travel overseas to farewell a sick loved one need to apply for an exemption, with the Department of Home Affairs often reluctant to make exceptions. 

New Zealanders are allowed to travel overseas provided they quarantine when they return, even though the government is urging them to stay home.

'We currently advise that all New Zealanders do not travel overseas at this time due to the outbreak of COVID-19, associated health risks and widespread travel restrictions,' the Safe Travel website said.

Ms Steggall backs mandatory hotel quarantining for returned travellers.

'I strongly support mandatory hotel quarantine but question the extension of this closed border policy,' she said.

Since March 20, Australia has been among the few nations in the world to ban its citizens from leaving, along with Kim Jong-un's dictatorship in North Korea

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights has a clause, Article 13, which upholds the right to leave a country.

'Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.'

Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, QC, said an indefinite travel ban, that wasn't aimed at tackling a pandemic, would be a breach of the UN human rights charter.

'In my opinion, yes,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'A justification would have to be that individual rights get sacrificed in order to protect the rights of the whole community.'