Celebrities like Zac Efron, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon are jetting into Australia setting up temporary homes.
More recently, Julia Roberts touched down. She’s due to film a movie there with George Clooney later this year, one rather aptly titled Ticket to Paradise.
Because amid the pandemic, it does appear that half of Hollywood has fled to Australia, viewing it as a Covid-free idyll.
Life is good in a country that’s largely eliminated the virus – people are freely enjoying beaches, bars, and nightclubs.
Most of the famous arrivals are here to work. Australia’s government has lured over productions like the next Thor film with tax breaks.
That’s led to a bonanza of celebrity sightings, particularly in Sydney:
There’s Idris Elba showing up on a concert stage; Natalie Portman buying groceries in Bondi; Chris Pratt partying in a hotel; and Efron lunching at a Korean barbecue restaurant in Chinatown.
The visitor book also includes Awkwafina, Ed Sheeran, Jane Seymour, Melissa McCarthy, Michelle Ye, Paul Mescal, Rita Ora, Ron Howard, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, Tilda Swinton, Tom Hanks and Lord Alan Sugar.
There’s also the Australian stars who’ve come home: Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Kylie and Danni Minogue, Rose Byrne, Isla Fisher and her British husband Sacha Baron Cohen.
“They’re calling it Aussiewood,” according to one local entertainment reporter
But not everyone is pleased. One year on since Australia shut its borders, there are still at least 40,000 Australians stranded overseas.
Many say they’ve effectively been blocked from returning home. One group has lodged a human rights complaint with the United Nations.
“No other country has impeded the return of their citizens in this way,” Sabrina Tiasha, who arrived home from the UK last month, says.
