Senator Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, asserted that tourist-related travel remained ‘quite some distance off’: “Just because of the practicalities of the volumes that are involved and the need for us to first and foremost keep putting health first.”

Despite recent announcements regarding a trans-Tasman bubble opening up between Australia and New Zealand, a timeframe still has yet to be announced. And New Zealand’s Foreign Minister has noted that state border closures in Australia are further delaying the proceedings.

However, the country is still working towards opening up for international students and business travellers – those that would arrive for ‘longer-term work purposes or longer-term business and investment purposes’, reasoned Senator Birmingham.

“I hope that we can look eventually at some of those countries who have similar successes in suppressing the spread of Covid to Australia and New Zealand, and in working through that with those countries, find safe pathways to deal with essential business travel that helps to contribute to jobs across our economies,” Senator Birmingham said.