New Zealand national party petitions for two-way bubble to begin “immediately”

Red car going to the beautiful landscape lake tekapo, Mt.cook, Lupines fields, South island New Zealand

The New Zealand National Party has launched a petition calling on the Ardern government to open the trans-Tasman bubble “immediately”, allowing two-way quarantine-free travel with Australia.

The party first jumped on the two-way travel bubble bandwagon last week, with opposition leader Judith Collins joining calls for New Zealand to allow Aussies to skip the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

Public health expert and advisor to the New Zealand government, Rodney James has echoed Collin’s calls and said there is “no reason why we have New Zealand arrivals today from Australia going into [managed isolation and quarantine]” Stuff reported.

Last week Australia reopened its one-way travel bubble with the country, allowing New Zealanders to travel to most Australian states without spending time in hotel quarantine.

The one-way bubble kicked off in October last year, allowing Kiwi citizens to enter Australia without undergoing any time in hotel quarantine. However, the bubble was suspended in February following an outbreak in Auckland.

Australians are still not permitted to travel to New Zealand under its international travel ban and Kiwis must quarantine for 14-days upon returning from Australia.

This comes as Tourism Minister Dan Tehan revealed Singapore is “very keen” to work with Australia on allowing quarantine free travel between the two countries using proof of vaccination certificates.

Senior government sources told The New Daily a successful two-way arrangement with NZ would need to be in place before any further deals could be agreed on.


Image: iStock/aumphotography

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