Deadline for Kiwi travellers could extend: PM

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: Getty
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: Getty
As Kiwis in Australia scramble to get home, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has not ruled out extending the one-week travel deadline to return.

Ardern said today that 21,000 New Zealanders had left for Australia and had not returned.

She told TVNZ the Government was committed to getting New Zealanders home before the quarantine-free travel suspension kicked in on Friday - and had not ruled out extending the one-week deadline if needed.

The Government was meeting airlines today to work out what capacity was available on flights.

Anyone who is not back home by Friday will have to go into managed isolation.

Ardern said she had been keeping a daily watch over what was happening in Australia and was concerned by not only the outbreak in New South Wales but also the ability to contain an outbreak within a state border.

"For us this was about shutting down the risk entirely."

The Prime Minister cut her holiday short on Friday to announce the travel bubble would be on hold for at least eight weeks as Australia grappled with a growing number of covid cases.

Ardern acknowledged the "devastating" impact the Australian Covid outbreak was having on people's live and said she would not risk the hard work put in by the team of 5 million by keeping the bubble open when the risk was high from the Delta variant.

The Delta variant had materially changes the risk profile for the transtasman bubble, she said.

Yesterday, there were no new cases of Covid-19 in the community and two in MIQ.

 

Comments

Yet again why panic, the PM will change her mind again