Passports, travel documents and boarding passes wouldn’t be required under trans-Tasman border shake-up

The tourism industry’s new plan is being pitched to Anthony Albanese ahead of this week’s meeting with NZ PM Chris Hipkins.

The TTF has proposed a joint trans-Tasman visitor visa to make it easier for overseas tourists to visit both Australia and New Zealand on a single trip. Picture: Qantas

Australians and New Zealanders travelling between the two countries would be able to access special immigration laneways so they don’t have to stop and produce passports, travel documents and even boarding passes, under reforms being pushed by the tourism industry.

Unveiling the proposed shake-up before Anthony Albanese flies to Wellington to meet NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins for the annual Australia-New Zealand leaders’ meeting this week, the Tourism and Transport Forum called for the countries to trial new entry and screening technologies to make travelling across the Tasman quicker and easier.

Paper arrival cards would be replaced with digital ones, facial recognition would be used at ­security points to reduce queues, and domestic and international terminals could even be ­combined as part of the border ­reforms.

TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said the trans-Tasman border should be used as a test case for a “seamless” border, after Australian Border Force commissioner Michael Outram said he was aiming to overhaul Australia’s border to ensure maximum economic advantage.

“It’s about having laneways for Australian-New Zealand travellers that are easier and quicker,” Ms Osmond said.

“Border formalities could be slashed by linking each passenger’s travel documentation to ­facial recognition technology. You could identify trans-Tasman passengers as they pass various points between baggage check-in and boarding their aircraft, without them needing to stop or ­produce passports, travel documents or even boarding passes.

“When passengers drop off their bags before their flight, you could use facial-recognition technology along with a digital arrivals card, which they would have already submitted, to assess each passenger during their flight.”

TTF chief executive Margy Osmond. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

The TTF wants a joint task force established like the Australian New Zealand Leadership Forum’s trans-Tasman safe ­border group that operated during the Covid-19 pandemic, involving “everybody who’s got a slice of the border” to develop and implement the reforms before the end of the year.

New Zealand is the biggest source of international visitors to Australia after the pandemic and is expected to remain in the No.1 spot for some time.

“Given the two prime ministers will be getting together to have a chat about all sorts of things this week, this would be a really sensible and forward-­facing project to get underway ASAP,” Ms Osmond said.

“There’s benefits for both sides of our border and from an Australian point of view, whatever this group comes up with could therefore be applied and integrated into the work that obviously Border Force wants to do with countries all over the world.”

Trade and investment, security and defence, a shared commitment to the Pacific region and deepening connections between Australians and New Zealanders are expected to be prioritised during Mr Albanese’s and Mr Hipkins’ third bilateral meeting.

Mr Outram, who addressed an Australia-New Zealand business group, the Trans-Tasman Business Circle, earlier this month, said it was “eye-opening” ­Australia’s “trading across border” ranking done by the World Bank had plunged from 25th to 106th in 10 years.