[ad_1]
A travel bubble with Australia would free up “an enormous amount of capacity” in New Zealand’s managed isolation facilities and allow more international visitors from other nations to enter the country, says Labor finance spokesman Grant Robertson.
Speaking at an Auckland Chamber of Business event in Auckland on Friday morning, Robertson said recent figures showed that between 60 and 70 percent of people in New Zealand’s managed isolation facilities were from Australia.
By allowing visitors from Australia to enter New Zealand without the need for isolation, New Zealand could welcome a greater number of visitors from other countries.
“If we can really move into that safe travel zone, then a tremendous amount of capacity opens up within our managed isolation facilities,” Robertson said.
READ MORE:
* Auckland Chamber of Business head says ‘no criteria’ for alert level decisions yet
* Coronavirus: Government considers salary subsidy for Auckland if lockdown persists
That released capacity would allow visitors with work visas, as well as international tourists, to enter New Zealand, he said.
Starting October 16, New Zealanders who have not been to a designated Covid-19 hotspot in the past 14 days will be able to travel to New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
JASON DORDAY / Things
Labor finance spokesman Grant Robertson says a safe travel zone with Australia would free up capacity at New Zealand’s managed isolation facilities.
The agreement will initially be one-way, with Australians unable to travel to New Zealand, and anyone leaving these shores for Australia will have to pay for two weeks of administered isolation upon return to New Zealand.
Robertson told the business breakfast crowd of about 100 people that New Zealand processes at the border were improving in terms of security, contact tracing, testing and genomic sequencing.
“All of that adds up to allow us to bring more people to New Zealand,” Robertson said.
A day earlier, Robertson issued a press release highlighting an international Bloomberg survey of 700 executives that found New Zealand to be the country they would be safest to invest in.
STUFF
Some figures that analyze the economic impact that Covid-19 has had in New Zealand.
New Zealand also topped a market crisis management index in the survey for its strong rankings on political stability, economic recovery, virus control and social resilience.
Robertson said in the statement that New Zealand had one of the most open economies in the world because the country had a plan for Covid-19 and stuck to it.
“We have eliminated our second wave, as others are still struggling to control this virus.”
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
Labor Party finance spokesman Grant Robertson says New Zealand has one of the most open economies in the world because the country had a plan for Covid-19 and kept it.
On the same day, a monthly ANZ survey showed that business confidence rebounded in October.
A net 4 percent of business owners expect their own company’s prospects to improve over the next year, a 9-point increase from a negative 5 percent net last month.
It’s a change from the negative 55 percent net figure recorded in April, and higher than a year ago.
On Wednesday, New Zealand eliminated Covid-19 for the second time after it was announced that all community cases in New Zealand’s second Covid-19 outbreak had recovered.
Later that night Auckland returned to Tier 1, meaning the entire country was now at freer Tier 1 for the first time since the beginning of August 11.
