People walk near the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, on June 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

 
Returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine in Australia who have refused COVID-19 tests have been described as "selfish".

Authorities in Victoria on Friday revealed that approximately one third of recently returned overseas travellers in mandatory hotel quarantine are refusing to be bested for COVID-19.

Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Trent Zimmerman on Saturday said it was "recklessly indifferent of people" to refuse tests, calling for them to be made mandatory.

"I think it's time if people are going to be so indifferent to their fellow citizens that not only do we make testing compulsory in those hotel rooms, but that we make it mandatory before people get on a plane coming back to Australia," Zimmerman told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"If they are not prepared to do that, they shouldn't be coming back."

Pedestrians walk on a street in Sydney, Australia, on June 24, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

 
Linda Burney, the opposition Labor Party's spokesperson for indigenous Australians, agreed with Zimmerman, saying that returned travellers who refused tests were "selfish".

"The reason that Australia is doing relatively well in terms of the virus is because of the testing regimes and we know how important they are," she said.

"For people to not agree to do it I think is reckless on their behalf and I think it is quite selfish and they should be thinking of the greater good."

As of 3 p.m. on Saturday, a total of 7,641 cases have been reported in Australia, including 104 deaths and 6,979 people who have recovered from COVID-19, according to official data.