Prime minister Scott Morrison said that unlike the United States, Australia will not be conducting military evacuations for former staff and translators stuck in Afghanistan.
The federal government had been facing increasing pressure to evacuate Afghan nationals who served with their forces and agencies, but a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said commercial flights were still available for them.
A group of veterans burnt their service medals in protest on Monday.
Retired major Stuart McCarthy said that many of the people there don’t have a safe way to reach Kabul where the commercial flights are operating, and that they risk Taliban confrontation.
He said “every person able to leave Afghanistan is another life saved."