The Indian Weekender, 9 April 2021

10 NEW ZEALAND
Friday, April 9, 2021
The Indian Weekender
TRANS-TASMAN air travel bubble
to start on April 19, not many MIQ
spaces to be freed, says PM
SANDEEP SINGH
Laying rest to any anticipation that
opening of a Trans-Tasman air travel
bubble will free-up additional spaces in
MIQ facility that could potentially allow more
inward travel into NZ including temporary
migrants ordinarily resident in NZ, Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern has said that her
government will be reserve 500 spaces for any
contingency in managing the quarantine free
air-travel.
PM Ardern was speaking at the 4 pm press
conference immediately after the cabinet
meeting on Tuesday, April 6.
Conditions for quarantine-free travel between
Australia and New Zealand have been met, and
a bubble will start in less than two weeks, Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern says.
Cabinet has been meeting today to decide
the date the two-way quarantine-free travel will
start. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised
last month to announce on 6 April when the
bubble could begin operating.
The new settings will begin from 11.59pm on
18 April.
Announcing the start date this afternoon,
Ardern said Cabinet had accepted the advice
of the Director-General of Health and was
“confident not only in the state of Australia
but also in our own ability to manage a travel
arrangement”.
“While Queensland has recently undergone
an outbreak connected to the border, this too
looks contained. And Cabinet believes any
residual risk can be managed with additional
precautionary processes such as pre-departure
testing if needed.”
Ardern said a system with three levels -
continue, pause, suspend - would manage the
trans-Tasman bubble.
“Pause” would be a temporary halt to travel
and “suspend” would be longer
term if there was a more serious
outbreak.
Ardern said it was an
important step forward in New
Zealand’s Covid-19 response,
“and represents an arrangement I
do not believe we have seen in any
other part of the world, that is, safely
opening up international travel to another
country while continuing to pursue a strategy
of elimination and a commitment to keeping
the virus out.”
She today said airlines had not been given
any forewarning about when a bubble with
Australia would be opened.
Ardern had previously said the government
had carefully worked through the framework of
a trans-Tasman bubble.
But she warned travelling would not be
without risk and if there was a community
outbreak in Australia, travelling Kiwis may
have to stay put, self-isolate or be tested once
they return.
The three-day lockdown in the Greater
Brisbane area was lifted over the weekend and
there have been no new cases in Queensland
for the second day in a row.
"While
Queensland
has recently undergone
an outbreak connected
to the border, this too looks
contained. And Cabinet
believes any residual risk can
be managed with additional
precautionary processes such
as pre-departure testing if
In northern New South Wales
coronavirus restrictions eased on
Monday night after another
day of no new community
cases.
New Zealand’s tourism
industry has been
waiting impatiently for
quarantine-free visitor
flights between the two
nations to return, giving
a much-needed injection of
life into the sector, which could
bring an estimated $1 billion into the
national economy.
needed."
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