In very welcome news today, New Zealanders will be allowed to join the two-way trans-Tasman bubble and travel to Western Australia without undergoing quarantine from April 19. Let the reunions begin!
Premier Mark McGowan has confirmed that from Monday, April 19, New Zealand will become part of WA’s controlled state border regime meaning New Zealanders can travel to Western Australia quarantine-free.
The Premier said Australia’s trans-Tasman neighbour will be treated just like other States and Territories for the purposes of travel.
New Zealand will be classified as a “very low risk” jurisdiction, meaning travellers will not be required to quarantine upon arrival.
Arriving New Zealanders will need to complete a G2G travel pass and undergo health screenings at the airport.
WA’s involvement in the travel bubble with New Zealand had been under some doubt given its hardline border stance over the past 12 months.
“This is an encouraging step forward for Western Australia and the nation,” Mr McGowan told reporters on Friday.
“It shows the flexibility and versatility of WA’s controlled-border regime to keep Western Australia strong.”
WA will also transition Queensland – the only state or territory currently affected by restrictions – to the very low-risk category from April 19.
People currently in self-quarantine will be allowed back into the community.
In another big change, WA will now require other jurisdictions to only go 14 days with no community cases before any border restrictions are lifted.
Previously they had to go 28 days with no community cases.
While the news will be music to the ears of Tourism Australia who yesterday launched a $3m ‘Be the first’ campaign aimed at attracting Kiwis to make the trip over to Aus to say G’Day.
Speaking about the campaign, Phillipa Harrison, Tourism Australia Managing Director said:
“After a year of almost no international travel, there is a real opportunity for us to capture pent up demand by encouraging the 1.7 million New Zealand travellers who normally travel to other destinations overseas to instead choose Australia for their next holiday.
The new campaign kicked off in New Zealand yesterday and is scheduled to run until June 2021 across TV, out-of-home, online, print and radio, and will be supported by a range of PR and partner activities.
Find out more here: www.australia.com/en-nz
