Wellington: New Zealand is set to announce on Monday whether it will open quarantine-free travel to Australians, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated that such an arrangement may only be with some Australian states.
Ardern told state broadcaster TVNZ in an interview that initial country-to-country negotiations had turned to state-by-state discussions as the process was taking too long.
“We’ve said: ‘Look, let’s just move state-by-state’ because it’s actually just taking a bit too much work, a bit too difficult,” Ardern said.
NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.Credit:Getty Images
“Let’s just operate as Australia has been operating with us. That’s helping to speed things up.”
Stuff reported officials from the two countries had gathered 12 times to work on a country-to-country arrangement, but it had been too difficult to get an arrangement on that basis.
Australia’s border has been mostly open to neighbouring New Zealanders since October, with a few short suspensions when there were small coronavirus outbreaks in Auckland. But New Zealand has delayed returning the favour amid more frequent bursts of COVID-19 clusters across Australia.
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Air NZ last week announced non-stop flights between Auckland and Tasmania would be operational as soon as a trans-Tasman bubble was established.
Ardern did not give any details on when such a travel arrangement was expected, but local media have reported it may be operational by the end of April. The Prime Minister is expected to announce her decision in a post-cabinet news conference later on Monday.
