Australia has granted more than 150,000 travel exemptions for people to leave the nation during the outbound travel ban caused by the CCP virus. The Australian government shut down the international border in March 2020 as the virus became rampant worldwide, allowing only those who had exceptional circumstances to apply for exemptions. Acceptable reasons for exemptions include “compassionate and compelling reasons,” work or study, and travelling to offer help with the pandemic abroad. The Home Affairs Department told a Senate estimates hearing that 150,687 outward travel requests were approved from March 25, 2020, to May 17, 2021, in response to a question raised by Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher. From August 2020 to May 2021, China was the top destination with 13,691 exemptions granted, followed by the United Kingdom (11,827), India (11,716), the United States (9,487), New Zealand (5,341), and Pakistan (4,944). But given that one person can apply multiple times, the figures …