‘Return the favor’: New South Wales PM calls on Jacinda Ardern to open borders

The Prime Minister of New South Wales has asked New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to “return the favor” and reciprocate Australia’s transtasman bubble with New Zealand.

At a press conference today, Gladys Berejiklian said New Zealanders must now “return the favor” to Australians after Scott Morrison resumed permission for New Zealanders to enter Australia free of quarantine.

She said they have been embracing New Zealanders for some time and that it is time for Ardern and his government “to do their part” to create a two-way transtasman bubble.

“I’ve always expected Prime Minister Ardern to return the favor to New South Wales because we have certainly been accepting New Zealanders since October / November last year,” Berejiklian told the media.

Since then, he has lobbied the New Zealand government to move, saying there is no reason why a bubble cannot exist now.

“I have always been robust and confident in our ability to have a transtasman bubble. I hope that will happen sooner rather than later. There is no reason why it can’t,” Berejiklian said.

New Zealand is considered a “green zone”, allowing Kiwis to travel freely to Australia, while the rest of the world is in the “red zone”.

Under the rules, New Zealanders who have spent at least 14 days in their homeland can avoid quarantine in Australia.

Australia briefly suspended the transtasman travel bubble in late January after the community broadcast in Auckland.

But the current New Zealand Papatoetoe group does not worry Berejiklian, saying there have been no prior Covid transmission issues when the bubble with NSW originally opened.

“NSW has been receiving people from New Zealand for months without quarantine. And knock on wood, we haven’t had a single case. There were only a few days when Auckland had that scare.

“To date we have had no problems. I hope they return the favor. I am happy to be the first state to offer that opportunity.”

Australia’s bubble reopened to New Zealanders on February 21.

In order for kiwis to avoid hotel quarantine in Australia, they only need to meet two requirements.

1. Only visited Australia or New Zealand in the last two weeks.

2. All other passengers on the flight have also visited only those two countries.

It is not yet known when the bubble will become two-way, allowing the Kiwis to return from Australia without quarantining themselves.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced in December that the cabinet had agreed “in principle” to establish non-quarantine travel between New Zealand and Australia in early 2021.

But this week, some experts suggested that border restrictions would not be relaxed until closer to the end of 2021, when vaccination programs would offer more protection.