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OPINION: While Australia will be the first country to which kiwis head when borders are reopened, the trans-Tasmania travel bubble must become trans-Pacific as soon as possible.
Many Pacific island nations are in dire economic straits due to a lack of international tourists and New Zealand and Australia, as their closest neighbors, long-term allies and frequent visitors should not disappoint them at this time. New Zealand has a particular duty to those with whom it has special constitutional ties, namely Niue, the Cook Islands, and Tokalau. All three remain free of Covid-19.
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Samoa also has no confirmed cases of Covid-19.
But extending the disputed trans-Tasman bubble to the Islands would not be just an act of goodwill; it would make economic and diplomatic sense.
Michael Hall, a professor in the department of administration, marketing and entrepreneurship at the University of Canterbury, said that a trans-peaceful bubble would be mutually beneficial in terms of travel, tourism and trade.
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“Obviously, outbound tourism from New Zealand would be economically very useful for the Pacific Island countries, which is important in regional economic and diplomatic terms. But it would also allow New Zealand’s fruit and vegetable sector to access some of the short-term labor they require.
“Leaving Pacific countries out of the travel bubble could be extremely damaging to New Zealand’s relations with those countries … Allowing the travel bubble to expand to them would be much better than having to increase aid.”
With a trans-Pacific bubble in place, many Pacific Islanders in New Zealand desperate to return to their home countries to visit family and friends could do so without having to go into quarantine afterward, something many cannot do for work reasons. or financial. .
Similarly, kiwis living on the islands could return to Aotearoa without having to isolate themselves for 14 days, something that some say prevents them from attending weddings, graduations, funerals and other important family events.
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Fiji, where tourism contributes almost 40 percent of GDP, has raised its hand to join the potential trans-Pacific bubble.
Meanwhile, those of us who enjoy soaking up some winter sunshine on our neighbors’ tropical backyards would be free to do so. Without having to worry that the inaction of our country has hardened the feelings of the locals towards us.
“As the virus began to spread worldwide, New Zealand rightly said that it had a moral obligation to help ensure the safety of [Pacific] nations helping to prevent the virus from spreading to them, “said University of Otago tourism professor Neil Carr.
“That has not changed, but we also have an obligation (both for Australia and New Zealand) to ensure that the economies of these countries can successfully recover from the consequences of the pandemic.
“Offering a bubble that allows tourists to travel between these islands and New Zealand and Australia, and that allows migrant workers to do the same, is an important part of this. Allowing such connections is also important to ensure the vitality of the strong cultural and social ties between all the countries involved. ”
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Aitutaki, like the rest of the Cook Islands, has reported no cases of Covid-19.
Aided by the New Caledonia-based development organization, the Pacific Community (SPC) and its partners, including the WHO and the UN, the Pacific island nations have been highly successful in preventing the spread of Covid -19 and some have had no confirmed cases. As of May 12, the number of cases in Pacific Island member states totaled 275, with seven deaths, SPC spokesman Peter Foster said.
“I think the low numbers are truly a testament to the early and aggressive action taken by Pacific leaders, who recognized the potential threat that a massive outbreak would pose to regional health systems. Everything indicates that the regional “curve” for Covid-19 is already flattening, and fortunately many Pacific islands have been able to avoid exposure entirely. ”
The French territories of French Polynesia and New Caledonia have registered 60 and 18 cases respectively without deaths, while Fiji has registered 18 cases without deaths. There have been no new cases in Fiji for three weeks, suggesting that its efforts to contain the virus are working.
Many popular destinations among kiwis do not have confirmed cases. In addition to Niue, the Cook Islands, and Tuvalu, these include Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu. All of which are highly dependent on New Zealand and Australia for visitors.
Of course, the bubble could only spread to the Islands once there is a framework in place to ensure that it is safe for both us and them.
“Australia and New Zealand would need to develop a common framework that can be used to assess the ability of any country to join the bubble,” said Hall. “The framework would identify several criteria that each country would need to meet to be included.”
An agency called the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum formed a Safe Frontiers Cross-Border Group to develop safe guidelines and practices for a travel bubble and this should also work for interested Pacific countries.
Essentially, any country that wants to be included in the bubble, as Fiji has made clear, should meet certain criteria and agree to specific health and safety measures.
Australian reports have said that airports may need to cover health checks and temperature controls, while tourists may need to present a certificate proving they are virus free. Travelers can be tracked during their visit, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is skeptical about the effectiveness of contact tracking apps, saying, “I don’t want us to trust that to be the answer, because it never will be.” It will be a useful complementary tool. “
Ardern has made clear that creating “a safe travel zone for COVID” with Australia is a priority in terms of international travel, and said in a joint statement with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on May 5 that restrictions on Travel between the two countries would be alleviated. as soon as it is safe to do so. While some experts have predicted that our bubbles will unite earlier this month, others think it may not happen until later this year.
Air New Zealand chief revenue officer Cam Wallace said at a recent trade webinar that a trans-Tasmanian bubble could be three to six months away, industry magazine TRAVELinc Memo reported.
The opening of the Pacific Islands is likely to take longer due to the medical infrastructure at those destinations, he said.
Ardern and Morrison said their governments would consider including “members of our broader Pacific family” when the trans-Tasman deal was ready.
Time, however, is essential. The longer we leave Pacific countries that depend on international tourism out of the travel bubble, the more serious the economic consequences will be for those countries.
“Most island nations rely heavily on tourism, so if the bubble didn’t happen, they would suffer more and more,” said Auckland University of Technology tourism professor Michael Lueck. “But we also have to keep in mind that there is a huge market for VFR (visiting friends and relatives), and many islanders living in New Zealand are desperate to visit friends and family in their countries.”
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Kiwis Mandy and Howie De Vries have been using their tourist railway to deliver supplies to Fijian communities.
Once New Zealand has the virus under control enough to allow travel to and from Australia, the risk that we will spread the virus to the Pacific, if handled properly, should be very low.
Covid-19 can never be completely eradicated, the World Health Organization warned, and as University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker and colleagues wrote on their blog of public health experts, “” There is currently no accepted international definition of Covid-19 phase-out … The clearest approach would be to require zero transmission within a country or region. ”
So Pacific nations are likely to join the trans-Tasmanian bubble on a case-by-case basis when they are free of Covid-19, although not everyone wants to.
Samoa, for example, has indicated that it would not want to be part of a transparent bubble in the Pacific until New Zealand residents have to be tested for Covid-19 before takeoff.
University of Otago tourism professor Julia Albrecht predicted that the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Samoa would be the first to be considered for the trans-Pacific bubble, as they have close personal ties to New Zealand and many residents of Those countries have family or friends. New Zealand. Hall thought that Fiji would also be a “logical partner”.
While reopening our borders to the Pacific Island countries would require more work than creating a trans-Tasmanian bubble, it is worth making the effort to speed up the process.
As Michael Rose, a researcher and anthropologist at the Australian National University, said in a recent guardian article, “If the Pacific nations wanted it, their inclusion in a trans-Pacific, rather than trans-Tasman, travel bubble could be an act of goodwill that would improve the lives of thousands and would be appreciated for decades to come.”
