Trans-Tasman ‘bubble’ will have restrictions

New Zealanders and Australians looking forward to the resumption of trans-Tasman travel may have to manage their expectations, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday suggesting the reopened border would look very different to what Kiwis are used to.

Australia and New Zealand have closed their borders to all non-citizens or non-permanent residents and their family members. The closures meant trans-Tasman travel has ground to a near halt.

But with both Australia and New Zealand making strides towards getting Covid-19 under control, politicians from both countries are now floating the idea of mutually reopening borders.

This trans-Tasman bubble would not mean a return to the easy trans-Tasman travel most people are used to.

Ardern said some form of quarantine was still ‘‘a very likely prospect’’.

‘‘If we are in a position where we want to open up to those who are living in Australia currently who want to come into New Zealand but are willing to quarantine themselves, then that is something we could consider,’’ Ardern said.

Both sides of the Tasman have expressed enthusiasm for loosening border controls.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said New Zealand was an obvious candidate for easing travel restrictions. ‘‘I would have thought New Zealand would be the obvious candidate [for border openings] and that’s the nature of discussions we’ve had,’’ Morrison said.

‘‘That is an area we can look potentially favourably on provided all the other arrangements are in place regarding public safety.’’

There’s no official indication of when a trans-Tasman bubble might be possible.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters told RNZ last week that he’d be open to relaxing the border with Australia’s eastern states.

‘‘We’re open to both options in my thinking but the more limited option will lead to the wider option in time – and more quickly than we think,’’ Peters said.

Ardern has been quick to signal that any relaxing of border restrictions was still some time away.

‘‘One thing I’m not willing to do is jeopardise the position that New Zealand has got itself into by moving too soon to open our borders up, even to Australia,’’ she said.

A shared bubble with the Pacific Islands could also be on the cards, although Ardern urged caution, saying she was mindful that opening the border to the Pacific could risk spreading the virus to islands that have so far remained relatively untouched by Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Government is working on its TraceTogether app, which will make contact tracing easier for the Health Ministry.

The app, which will be voluntary and is based on software rolled out in Singapore, will help the ministry trace people who are close contacts of positive Covid-19 cases and even alert those people, telling them to get tested and selfisolate.

Australia’s own contact-tracing app was rolled out yesterday. More than 1 million people downloaded it within hours of its release.

Ardern said such an app would not replace human contact tracing.

‘‘One thing globally we’re seeing an acknowledgment of is that it is not a replacement for human and one-on-one contact tracing,’’ she said.

The success of such apps relies on very high uptake, which has not been achieved in most countries.

Ardern said there may be a chance for the Australian and New Zealand contact-tracing apps to be mutually compatible.

‘‘There is similar technology being looked at and utilised,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘I imagine there may well be some similarities but keep in mind the No 1 consideration for opening up between New Zealand and Australia will be that we have got Covid-19 under control,’’ she said.