NSW and South Australia will be the first states to benefit from New Zealanders being allowed to travel to Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison says.
Speculation has renewed about a potential trans-Tasman bubble in recent days, with NZ PM Jacinda Ardern welcoming Australia’s downward trend in coronavirus cases.
“The Australians have moved on their previous plans,” she said this week.
“Previously they wanted a whole of Australia approach and we said that would slow things down.
“They’re now moving to a hotspot regime where certain parts (of Australia) won’t be able to be part of free movement between Australia and across the Tasman.”
Ms Ardern had flagged Queensland as the likely lucky first state to benefit from an influx of Kiwis keen to renew overseas travel.
But Mr Morrison dashed those hopes on Thursday. He said any arrangement would initially be only one-way, allowing Kiwis to fly across the Tasman.
“We’ll be able to move on that very soon,” he told 5AA radio.
“New Zealanders being able to travel to Australia – that’s good for Australian tourism.”
Mr Morrison said South Australia and NSW would be the first to benefit because they have already removed domestic borders.
“That would take a lot of pressure off at the airports for hotel quarantine, which frees up more places for Australians to come home,” he said.
He said states that insisted on quarantine for domestic travel – such as Queensland and Western Australia – would not be included in the bubble.
“We can’t have New Zealand tourists coming and taking up those quarantine places in those states,” he said.
Mr Morrison and Ms Ardern discussed the potential trans-Tasman bubble earlier in the week. On Wednesday, Ms Ardern said there was a chance that Australia could open up to NZ “because of our status and where we are right now, which is pretty good”.
But the idea of Australians being allowed to head to NZ is considered still to be some time off. That’s because NZ has a COVID-19 elimination strategy and has imposed a series of criteria that must be met before its borders open to people from other nations.
-with AAP
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