Ardern: New Zealand-Pacific bubble could be on cards next if trans-Tasman travel goes well

May 18, 2020

Jacinda Ardern would want to be careful with travel, though, given some Pacific nations are Covid-19 free.

A New Zealand-Pacific bubble could be on the cards after a trans-Tasman bubble's been established, but the Prime Minister said she wants to be particularly careful about the travel option given many parts of the Pacific are still free of Covid-19.

Jacinda Ardern told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning there were also concerns given the measles outbreak in the Pacific.

"When we raised the issue of trans-Tasman, we did say that the next potential area could be the Pacific," she said. "I do want to make sure, though, that we do that really in close contact with them.

"It wasn't that long ago that we had a terrible outbreak of measles in Samoa, and so we want to make sure that whatever we do that there is really support and agreement from our Pacific neighbours to progress with something like that because no one wants to carry the burden of Covid going into areas which at the moment are Covid-free."

As for an Australia-New Zealand bubble, Ms Ardern said both countries were "working away" on making it happen.

"We want to make sure both countries are in a position to open up our borders to one-another, that we're ready to go.

Jacinda Ardern talked about how the Government is supporting Kiwis through the pandemic.

"What we're both waiting for is for us to feel like we've got our health response right, that we've got the virus under control in both our countries, and that we're not risking spreading to one-another.

"In the meantime, we're doing work around what our borders should look like and border controls, extra things we can put in place to be doubly sure.

"And then our hope is eventually you'll see movement between our two countries, even if it's not happening elsewhere, without quarantine so that you don't have to go over to the Gold Coast and spend two weeks in quarantine before you can have your holiday."

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