Australian travel bubble with New Zealand could be open from the first quarter of 2021, Jacinda Ardern says
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the country could open a travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of 2021.
The NZ government has come under increasing pressure to restore pre-COVID travel arrangements, ending the need for a mandatory 14-day quarantine for international arrivals, from Australia.
Speaking on Monday at the final post-Cabinet press conference of 2020, the prime minister said details would be revealed in the new year.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the country could open a travel bubble with Australia in the first quarter of 2021
The NZ government has come under increasing pressure to restore pre-COVID travel arrangements, ending the need for a mandatory 14-day quarantine for international arrivals, from Australia
‘It is our intention to name a date… in the New Year, once remaining details are locked down,’ Ms Ardern said.
‘Our hard and early approach broke the back of the virus and despite flare-ups since… the vast bulk of New Zealanders have enjoyed freedoms for the majority of the year that few other countries have.’
Quarantine-free travel will also require Australian government approval and COVID case numbers staying at rock bottom.
There would also have to be no change in either country’s COVID-19 situation.
New Zealand has also agreed to start a bubble with the Cook Islands, which has not had a single case of COVID-19, within the same timeframe.
Ms Ardern said one-way travel from the Cooks to New Zealand would come before any opening to Australia.
More to come