NZ MP pushes for Pacific entry to bubble

New Zealand National MP Judith Collins says there should be a Covid-19 travel bubble with the Pacific Islands and New Zealand.

The Government made a commitment with Australia to create a trans-Tasman bubble when it was safe to do so.

Realistic timeframe

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said September could be a “realistic” timeframe.

“I would like to see the Pacific Islands included, because countries like Samoa closed their borders a month before New Zealand did, they had no cases (of Covid-19),” Ms Collins said on TVNZ1’s Q+A. “They are a country that could do with some tourism from New Zealand.”

Trans-Tasman bubble

Fiji’s Economy minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiym told the Australian Financial Review in May including Fiji in a trans-Tasman bubble would do “far more good than any aid or assistance”.

“Fijians yearn to swim sustainably, not just be kept afloat,” he said. Source: Radio New Zealand