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Posted: 2021-05-05 13:46:49

Former Australian cricketer Michael Slater has challenged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to "take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies" on the streets of India, doubling down on his earlier criticisms of the federal government's controversial travel ban.

Slater, who was in India as a broadcaster for the Indian Premier League (IPL), has accused the government of neglecting Australians who cannot return home because of the current travel ban.

Flights from India have been banned until at least May 15, with the government introducing penalties including five years in jail for anyone trying to enter Australia from the COVID-ravaged country.

Following widely publicised comments on Monday night, in which he accused Mr Morrison of having blood on his hands, Slater again took to social media on Wednesday, writing that it was "amazing to smoke out the PM on a matter that is a human crisis".

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"The panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real!!" he tweeted.

"How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street!"

Australian cricketers to leave India in coming days

On Tuesday morning, Mr Morrison appeared on Channel Nine's Today program, where he dismissed Slater's earlier comments.

Addressing the travel ban, he said there had been a "rapid escalation rate" in those returning from India, which put "enormous pressure on our system".

"The alternative to these arrangements was stopping those flights altogether, which would have meant people coming from other places wouldn't have been able to come home," Mr Morrison said.

"This is about getting more people home safely preventing a third wave in Australia."

Australian players left in India following the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament will be moved out of the country in the next few days as part of a plan to get them back to Australia. 

Thirty-eight Australians, including players, commentators, coaches and officials are in India, but will move to the Maldives or Sri Lanka.

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