New Zealand axes travel bubble plans with Australia

Following a growing number of COVID-19 cases and Victoria now in a “state of disaster”, the trans-Tasman travel bubble is basically off the table.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says a trans-Tasman travel bubble with Australia is now a “long way off”, given Australia’s new position in the fight against COVID-19.

After Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declared a “state of disaster” including harsh new restrictions, Ms Ardern said the country was no longer in a position to be thinking about a corridor across the ditch.

Speaking on The AM Show on Monday, the New Zealand Prime Minister said it will likely be “several months” before a trans-Tasman bubble will even be considered, let alone put into practice between both nations given the number of coronavirus cases in Victoria.

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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has a grim forecast for the much-anticipated trans-Tasman bubble. Picture: Marty Melville/AFP

RELATED: New Zealand’s ‘travel bubble’ may be with Cook Islands not Australia

“The trans-Tasman bubble, obviously not anytime soon,” the Prime Minister told The AM Show on Monday.

“One of the things that we set as part of our criteria, is anywhere where we have quarantine-free travel, they have to be free of community transmission for a period of time – 28 days. That is going to take a long time for Australia to get back to that place, so that will be on the backburner for some time.”

Previously, a trans-Tasman bubble between both nations had been tipped for an opening anywhere from July to August, but it is now likely that will be delayed by months.

“Their numbers at the moment are very high. Dan Andrews himself said they were looking like being in that position for months, which is why they’ve gone into the lockdown,” she said, noting an exact time frame of a trans-Tasman corridor was “very hard to predict”.

Ms Ardern said the new outbreaks in parts of Australia – especially Victoria – made predicting a start date for the trans-Tasman travel bubble difficult. Picture: Kevin Stent/Getty Images

In an interview with Newshub last month, Ms Ardern said she was eyeing off a corridor with the Cook Islands, given its zero reported coronavirus cases and proximity to New Zealand. The conversation comes as soaring coronavirus case numbers continue in Melbourne and fresh outbreaks sweep parts of NSW.

“It’s clear to us that opening up with Realm countries, keeping in mind they are New Zealand passport holders, will come before any opening up with Australia,” Ms Ardern told Newshub.

The Cook Islands, with a population of just over 15,000, is one of the few countries in the world that has reported no COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.

Ms Ardern would not comment on a possible timeline for a travel bridge with the South Pacific nation but said New Zealand airports were already working on the logistics of allowing for the influx of travellers.

Cook Islands may be the first to launch a travel corridor with New Zealand. Picture: iStock

“We have a lot of people transiting through New Zealand … who are coming from high-risk countries,” she said on Monday.

“So we basically need to create an airport where no one has contact with one another. That is incredibly important, to make sure that anyone who’s coming through from the Realm countries does not come into contact with anyone that’s come from a high-risk country. It’s that logistical work we have to get right.

“We can’t bear the burden of the risk to the Cook Islands in particular if this isn’t done properly. They are COVID-free, their health system is heavily reliant on ours, so it’s in both our interests to get this right.”

Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran has backed Ms Ardern’s concern, saying the idea of a travel bubble with Australia “felt a little bit closer eight weeks ago”.

“Now it feels that possibly, that maybe, at best, (it could come at) the end of this year, and probably more likely next year,” he told a parliamentary committee last week.

– with Lauren McMah