Winston Peters quashes July Wellington-Canberra business flight proposal

The Government has quashed the possibility of business flights between Wellington and Canberra starting on July 1. 

Business leaders proposed a trial of the trans-Tasman bubble, with flights between the capitals  beginning next month. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters called the timeframe "too early", adding it "doesn’t have the support of the Australian Government in this point in time".

"Just as an aside, I wouldn't of thought Wellington and Canberra are the two best places to open up this flight.

"I’ve got nothing against Canberra but I’m for mass population by way of demand rather than the capital cities."

Mr Peters said it would be more up to Australia rather than New Zealand, "because they’ve got the federal system and they are still not flying interstate". 

Her comments come after Winston Peters said he thinks we should already have trans-Tasman travel.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said opening up the border between New Zealand and Australia would take both Governments to "tick that off". 

"We are getting our borders ready… but it does come down to our Covid status."

When asked if early July was a realistic time, Ms Ardern said it was "fair to say we are all very eager, we’re just eager to do it safely". 

Last week, Mr Peters said he would like to see a trans-Tasman bubble implemented "yesterday" .

National’s deputy leader Nikki Kaye questioned Mr Peters over his recent disagreements with the Government.

Margy Osmond, co-chair of the Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group, told the Sydney Morning Herald that week they expected it to commence "as early as September".

When asked about this, Ms Ardern said that timeframe could be realistic.

"I have been careful about putting down specific dates, but have been very focused on making sure we are ready, then we can move and we won’t be constrained by needing to do any administrative or logistical work at our borders," she told media.

"That’s why we’re focused on getting that ready, when we’re in a position of our health officials and epidemiologists saying they are comfortable that New Zealand and Australia don’t pose risk to one another, then we’ll be ready to go."

SHARE ME

More Stories