Why is Katie Hopkins being deported by Australia? What did ex Apprentice star say in anti-Covid Instagram rant

Right-wing commentator and former Apprentice contestant Katie Hopkins is to be deported from Australia, after she made comments about breaking the country’s quarantine rules.

Hopkins is known for her controversial comments, including her UN condemned remark that migrants are “like cockroaches”.

The Australian Home Affairs minister, Karen Andrews, has now confirmed Hopkins will be “out of the country as soon as we can arrange that.”

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So, what did she say and how will she be dealt with by Australian authorities? This is what you need to know.

What did Katie Hopkins say?

On Friday night, Hopkins allegedly joked with her 265,000 Instagram followers that she was going to appear “naked and without a mask” at her hotel room door when staff came to serve her food.

She had been staying in the Sydney hotel to complete her mandatory quarantine fortnight before entering the country’s Big Brother VIP show.

In the now deleted Live video on her story, she also called lockdown “greatest hoax in human history”.

Hotel quarantine rules in Australia include isolating residents being required to put on a mask before meals are delivered by the staff at their door, then wait 30 seconds to collect the food to avoid transmission.

How has the Australian government reacted to her comments?

Representatives of the government have now confirmed Hopkins will not be allowed to remain in Australia.

On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told Hopkins to “pack your bongo and get out of the country,” if she had been found to have made the statement.

Mr Joyce, who also called for Tom Cruise to leave when it was reported he had illegally took his two dogs on a flight into Australia in 2015, said: “I’m the one who wanted to send home Johnny Depp’s dogs.

“I’ve got no problem sending home someone who wants to flout our laws.”

“If you want to flout our laws then you pack your bongo and get out of the country.”

Following his comments, Health minister Karen Andrews said the comments were “appalling” and described Hopkins as “boasting about breaching quarantine.”

Ms Andrews told ABC news: “It’s appalling that this individual behaved the way that she did and she will be leaving.

“We will be getting her out of the country as soon as we can arrange that. The fact that she was out there boasting about breaching quarantine was just appalling.

“It was a slap in the face for all those Australians who are currently in lockdown and it’s just unacceptable behaviour.”

Seven Network and Endemol Shine Australia, the broadcaster and production company behind Big Brother VIP, said on Sunday that Hopkins’ contract had been cancelled.

What are the Australian Covid rules?

Australia had almost completely locked down its borders in the beginning of the pandemic, in a bid to block the virus from entering from overseas territories.

There is now a mandatory two-week quarantine for travellers in Australia, with less than half the usual inbound flights to reduce the risk of mutant variants entering the country.

The country’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are currently under lockdown to contain a coronavirus outbreak caused by the more contagious Delta variant.

Hopkins’ travel to Australia has already been met by controversy and backlash, as many Australians are still waiting to be allowed back into the country.