Jacinda Ardern reveals NZ travel bubble with Australia is on ‘the horizon’
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says her ‘heart goes out to Victoria’, saying the spike in cases shows the difficulty in launching a trans-Tasman bubble.
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hinted that the travel bubble across the ditch is on the “horizon” and still a very “real” discussion.
During an interview on local radio, Ms Ardern addressed the highly anticipated bubble between Australia and New Zealand, saying the concept was in the works, but that a certain target needs to be reached before an agreement can happen.
“This is a surging pandemic,” she told Newstalk ZB’s radio host Kerre McIvor.
“Yes we absolutely need to think about the future … and we are doing that thinking. So, for instance, we are continuing to work in earnest on the possibility of the work required for a trans-Tasman opening. There are states in Australia that have the same status as us that are essentially within community COVID-free.”
Ms Ardern said the biggest challenge that both nations face in opening the borders to each country and beyond sits with how to stop transiting passengers intermingling with others at airports.
“How to do you separate your airport so those who come from one country aren’t mingling with others,” she said. “So all of that work is happening.”
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The NZ leader said the other concern is the spikes in cases, saying that she has sympathy for the surge in Victoria. On Friday the state recorded another 66 positive virus cases.
“My heart really goes out to Victoria at the moment,” she said.
“That demonstrates why we need a series of safety nets. Quarantine is one, contact tracing is another, testing in our community is another. We need every time something fails, there needs to be protection at another layer.”
Ardern said that given the changes in the pandemic – using Victoria’s sudden spike in cases as an example – the opening of borders is looking less likely to other countries, but conversations are still on the table with Australia.
“When it comes to the future … we are in a huge period of uncertainty,” she said.
“We won’t be seeing the borders opening … quarantine-free travel … for the near future. We are working as quickly as we can on options around quarantine-free travel with Australia, so that’s an opportunity that is on the horizon and that is real, but then beyond that we are having to plan around some great unknowns.”
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Last month, hopes for the trans-Tasman bubble to launch in July were dashed after New Zealand recorded several new cases of COVID-19.
After going more than three weeks without a single case of COVID-19, New Zealand’s road to recovery was seen as having led the way in its response to the global health pandemic.
But the virus returned when two women who travelled to Auckland from the UK on compassionate grounds to see a dying relative tested positive to having the virus.
Discussions between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern have been bubbling away since early May, with launch dates tipped anywhere from July to September.
But with the majority of Australia’s state borders still closed to some degree, and with the surge of cases in Victoria, a suggested July corridor across the ditch is looking less and less likely.
“My thinking, and that of other travel industry leaders in both countries, is that New Zealand (and Australia) will be understandably cautious about how the reintroduction of tourism trans- Tasman will take place,” Dr David Beirman, a senior tourism lecturer from Sydney’s University of Technology, said in an interview with news.com.au in June.
“Issues such as medical screening, social distancing and protective clothing will need to be taken into consideration.
“A trans-Tasman bubble may open in stages with business and official travel being the first cab off the rank, and then gradually open up to students, visiting friends and relatives and then general tourism.
“I would be surprised to see any resumption of trans-Tasman travel as open slather.”
Originally published as Jacinda Ardern reveals NZ travel bubble with Australia is on ‘the horizon’