Peters keen on border bubble
WELLINGTON: Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he wants to see a transtasman border bubble formed as soon as possible now this country and Australia ‘‘were beating the crap’’ out of Covid19.
He said an arrangement for free movement between the two countries could potentially happen under Level 2 conditions here. However, it would be dependent on having health guarantees.
‘‘It could happen at Level 2 as long as you had a guarantee as to who was coming and their safety and security,’’ he said.
Both countries had got on top of community transmission of the coronavirus but the transtasman bubble would not be viable if there was still a twoweek quarantine requirement.
‘‘The moment you put in a 14day quarantine, forget it. It’s not going to work.’’
Mr Peters said while the country could not be certain of eradicating Covid19, ‘‘we’re beating the crap out of it, the same as Australia’’.
Australia is New Zealand’s biggest source of visitors and, asked whether some could possibly come here for the ski season, he said there was a chance.
Mr Peters said he was more confident about reopening the country to Australians now, than when it was speculated on not so long ago.
He said a transtasman arrangement could be a model for the rest of the world.
Asked what were the prospects of Pacific nations joining a transtasman bubble, he said he was in frequent contact with island leaders who were concerned about the level of border security in their countries.
Mr Peters, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, wants the country to move to Alert Level 2 as soon as possible to support business and jobs.
An announcement on any change to status is due on May 11.
Global conditions would affect the speed of a recovery but he was now more confident given this country’s preparedness for Covid19.
Domestic air travel would be limited under Level 2.
Some preliminary modelling by Air New Zealand showed little route growth — including leaving off Queenstown — but Mr Peters said he expected the airline to start flying to the regions as soon as possible.
The Government already owns 52% of the airline and is likely to end up with a much bigger stake as its $900 million loan looks increasingly likely to be converted to equity.
He said any decision on ownership was up to Finance Minister
Grant Robertson, who is the shareholding minister in the airline, in which the Government had a ‘‘huge’’ underwriting.
Mr Peters said with increased Government ownership, the airline would need to show its value to national and regional interests.
‘‘Obviously, we’d like to see the regions come alive again. It may cost money to do that for a while,’’ he said.
‘‘Flying to bring business to the provinces and regions needs to be factored in to their profit margin.
‘‘It won’t have a bottomline profit margin, it will have contingencies which show its value to the national economy and regional economy, in particular in relation to a place like Queenstown.’’ — The New Zealand Herald