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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that she is “working hard” to organize a trans-Tasmanian travel bubble with Australia.
Talking to the Australian Breakfast TV Show Today Ardern admitted that certain steps must be taken before finalizing the plans.
The first thing Ardern would like to see is Australia defining what is meant by a Covid-19 hotspot and putting containment plans in the event of another outbreak in all states.
“I think, first of all, we have to recognize that, strangely enough, we actually miss each other,” Ardern said with a laugh. “What we will have to figure out is what the definition of a hotspot really means. At what point will Australia say, ‘That’s an area that we will put a bit of a border around and we won’t have travel.
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“That will determine whether or not it will be enough in our minds to keep everyone safe.”
As coronavirus cases continue to decline in Australia, Ardern hopes to welcome travelers to the shores of New Zealand.
Today
Jacinda Ardern said Australia needs to establish a hotspot regime before the deal can go ahead.
The prime minister has not ruled out making separate deals with states with low or no cases to help boost the tourism industry.
“That is something we have always been open to,” he confirmed.
“There have been several states that have had great success with Covid.
“A lot of that comes down to the decisions Australia chooses to make in the future.”
“What you can see is that we want it to work. We want it to be safe. We want everyone to feel comfortable with it and know that we are safeguarding our own strategies while doing it.”
Ardern’s comments come after she confirmed that there might be a travel bubble for Christmas earlier this week.
New Zealand has been widely praised for its approach to the coronavirus. After a group emerged in Auckland in August, Ardern quickly put the city back into a stage three lockdown.
Ardern said he has “zero tolerance” for the cases in his country and plans to continue working towards an elimination strategy.
“We want to keep our people safe. I absolutely agree with the decision we made, which was difficult, to go early,” he said while referring to the effect of the lockdown on the New Zealand economy.
“It meant we lifted our restrictions earlier than many others. We got our open economy back and our death rate was low. Ultimately, what is an economy without a healthy people?
“That has been the basis for many of our decisions.”
This story was originally published on Nine news and republished with permission.
