Not yet, but “not too long” till we’re ready for a trans-Tasman bubble, says PM

Report from RNZ
A group of government and business representatives will early next month deliver a blueprint on how a trans-Tasman bubble could work.

The Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group has been coordinated by the Australia New Zealand leadership forum and has involved representatives from both sides of the ditch.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the group was considering every aspect of a passenger’s journey, “including pre-flight health requirements and eligibility, protections on board an aircraft, movement through airports, contact tracing requirements once people enter their destination”.

While there was “enthusiasm” on both sides for this to proceed as soon as it is safe to, Ardern said she did not think either country was ready yet.

“But obviously what we want to do is make sure that we’ve got all of that border work in place, that we are ready to go when we have agreement on both sides of the Tasman that it is safe to proceed.

“One of the conversations we’ve had is that we’ve perhaps had a little bit more time to see what is happening with our efforts to stamp out Covid with eased restrictions.

“Australia in some cases is just getting into that, so I’d say good work is taking place and it won’t be too long before we will be ready,” Ardern said.