Onus is on New Zealand, Australia to Ease Border Restrictions and Match Fiji’s Bold Move to Open up Travel

M any Kiwis and Aussies can’t wait to return to Fiji for their holidays.

As Fiji gets ready to reopen its international border next month the onus is on New Zealand and Australia to do the same.

While Australia is warming to the same idea, it may take some time for New Zealand to take the same step as Fiji took.

The first big hurdle is that Fiji is not among quarantine free travel countries in the Pacific for New Zealand.

Recently seasonal workers from Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu arrived in New Zealand and were transported to the farms that employ them without going through the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities for the mandatory 14 days.

The second and perhaps the most important concern for Fiji is the existence of MIQ requirements.

Risks for Kiwis

Passengers cannot travel to New Zealand unless they have secured a voucher for a room at a MIQ facility.

So far, there are between 20,000 and 30,000 Kiwis stranded overseas because they have been waiting in vain to book a room.

It’s a lottery and a subject of intense debate and frustration.

This has serious implications on Kiwis wanting to holiday in Fiji.

One regular visitor to Fiji tells me as much as he would like to travel when the Fiji border reopens the uncertainty about being able to return home on a date of his choice is a big worry.

“I may be fully vaccinated, tested negative and am able to fly to Fiji. But there is no guarantee that I will return to NZ after my Fiji holiday on the date I want. I have to secure a voucher.

“If I can’t, I am in trouble. Look at the thousands of Kiwis stranded abroad. Some had gone away on important business trips but are now stranded abroad.

“I don’t want to come back and be cooked up in a hotel room for two weeks, and having to pay more than $3000 for it.

“It’s not worth the risk. If Jacinda Ardern removes the quarantine requirement at the border I will be on the first flight to Nadi when the border reopens.”

He echoes the sentiments of Kiwis who love to come to Fiji for their holidays.

Going by the latest development on efforts to contain the spread of the Delta virus in New Zealand they might have to wait a little longer.

No jab, no job policy

NZ has realised that it is difficult to eliminate Delta so it’s working towards containing it and minimising it’s spread by ramping up its vaccination campaign as Fiji has successfully done.

It will ease restrictions and eventually reopen borders when at least 80 per cent of the eligible people are fully vaccinated.

As of Tuesday 58 per cent of the eligible population have been fully vaccinated while 75 per cent have got their first jab.

In another big move, the NZ Government has issued a vaccine mandate for all schoolteachers and healthcare workers. Sounds familiar? Yes, the Fijian Government had done it.

By January 2022, unvaccinated teachers and healthcare workers will lose their jobs as the no jab no job policy is rolled out.

This and other measures are designed to get as many people vaccinated before restrictions can be relaxed.

So we may have to wait for a few more months before we see Kiwi tourists flocking to holiday here.