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SYDNEY (BLOOMBERG) – The budding Australia-New Zealand travel bubble had an early setback after 17 passengers who flew to Sydney on Friday (October 16) broke the rules and took a connecting flight to Melbourne.
In an effort to boost tourism, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government encourages visitors to New Zealand, which has crushed community transmission of Covid-19, and says they can enter the country without having to undergo a hotel quarantine for 14 days.
But the quarantine-free travel corridor covers only the state of New South Wales, which is home to Sydney, and the Northern Territory.
All 17 passengers flew to Melbourne within minutes of arriving in Sydney, and Victoria’s state prime minister, Daniel Andrews, is not happy.
“We are not part of this bubble,” Andrews told reporters on Saturday. “I wrote to the prime minister this morning and we are disappointed that this has happened.”
Authorities are waiting for border officials to send the passenger details so they can be tracked down and informed about local lockdown rules.
Morrison’s acting immigration minister Alan Tudge said it had been widely understood that anyone arriving in Sydney from New Zealand would be free to travel to other states like Victoria that had not closed their border with New South Wales.
He accused Andrews, who is under pressure to ease a Melbourne lockdown, of trying to create a distraction, the Australian newspaper reported.
The limited travel corridor is a long way from the bubble initially envisioned by Morrison. New Zealand is not yet reciprocal and says that anyone returning from a trip to Australia must be quarantined for 14 days upon return.
Indeed, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has urged New Zealanders to spend their holidays at home.
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