The Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers have committed to trying to streamline the travel process between Australia and NZ, but said some restrictions would remain in place … for now.
PM Anthony Albanese and his NZ counterpart Chris Hipkins met in Wellington on Wednesday on the anniversary of the trans-Tasman travel pact that allows for freedom of movement between the countries, the ABC reported.
But while “seamless” travel looks possible in the near future, passport-free travel between the two countries is still at least another year off.
Mr Albanese confirmed the nations “haven’t looked at a trans-Tasman passport”.
“What we are looking at is making a seamless experience of going through from country to country,” he said.
“So, that might look at, for example, how smart gates could operate and be complimentary, our systems, so that before you get on a plane, in either country, it’s already recognised that you’re OK to come in and therefore, can just go through smart gates in a seamless way and in a timely way.”
Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TFF) CEO Margy Osmond lauded the forward step as well as the creation of a trans-Tasman working group that will report back on the matter by June 2024.
“This is terrific news for travellers and the tourism sector. We want to make travelling between Australia and New Zealand as smooth as possible and this group will help lead the best path forward to achieve it,” she said.
“TTF and our colleagues at the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) have been working towards and advocating for a seamless, hi-tech border and it is great to see both Prime Ministers responding to the opportunity this represents.
“Both countries have listened and recognised the importance of these changes.”
“Revolutionising” travel
TTF hopes the new trans-Tasman working group can “help revolutionise travel across the Tasman”.
“By bringing together experts from both sides, our countries can examine how we can make processing passengers faster and more secure by taking advantage of existing technology,” Osmond said.
“With the group to report back by the middle of the next year, we hope to see a trial or pilot program potentially in place by the end of next year.
“This also allows us to potentially use Trans-Tasman routes as a test case for some of the wider reforms flagged by the Australian Border Force to improve Australia’s border processes more broadly.”
Meanwhile, Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA) also welcomed the commitment to more streamlined travel.
“The tourism industry on both sides of the Tasman is motivated to work with our governments to make this experience easier, something which would benefit business and holiday visitors,” TIA CEO Rebecca Ingram said.
“We recognise that it’s not without complexity and it’s important to balance security needs with desires to reduce barriers.”
This week, the New Zealand Government announced it had changed its arrivals process for international travellers into select airports with digital updates to the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) effective immediately.
