Covid 19 coronavirus: No charges for Perth traveller who broke transtasman bubble rules

There have been two incidents so far where travellers appear to have broken transtasman rules to come to New Zealand from Australia. Photo / File

A traveller who broke transtasman bubble rules by flying to Auckland from Perth in April has not been charged.

And it remains unclear whether three people will face charges for driving from Melbourne, which remains in lockdown, to Sydney and then flying to Auckland last week.

The two incidents have reinforced the high-trust model that underpins the transtasman travel bubble, but the National Party is calling for rule-breakers to face consequences.

"For the transtasman bubble to work, people have to follow the rules," the party's Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop said.

"I'd be surprised if there weren't consequences for people who break the rules."

Deliberately breaking the transtasman bubble rules could lead to a $4000 fine or six months in jail.

It is understood the Melbourne trio, who are resident in Australia, planned to attend a funeral during their trip to New Zealand.

They were caught at the border in Auckland and placed into managed isolation after trying to deceive border officials.

Melbourne is subject to a two-week lockdown as the city battles to contain Covid-19 cases, and restrictions are in place for anyone from Victoria wanting to travel to other parts of Australia.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says three travellers from Melbourne are facing consequences because they have been taken into MIQ. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the trio have to pay for their 14-day MIQ stay.

Asked whether they should be charged, she said that decision wasn't up to her but "there are consequences".

"To anyone considering breaching the rules that we have in place - in this case, the family has been picked up, and they've been put into a managed isolation facility."

But there were no such consequences for a man who flew from Perth to Auckland via Sydney in April, when flights from Perth were paused.

The man appears to have lied about whether he had travelled from Perth after he landed in Sydney and booked a new flight to Auckland.

By the time his identity and travel were confirmed, he had landed at Auckland International Airport and eluded authorities. When health officials caught up with him, he was allowed to self-isolate in Northland.

The man's travel highlighted how easy it is to lie in order to breach the rules in the transtasman bubble, which had only been running for a week at the time of his flight.

The Health Ministry confirmed today that the man has not faced any charges.

"The matter of the three people who travelled from Melbourne is still being considered by police so it would be inappropriate to comment," a ministry spokesperson said.

Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said relevant border agencies would review their processes, even though it appeared that the trip from Melbourne was the result of "disappointing actions" from the three people concerned.

Bloomfield said he hadn't looked into whether the trio should face charges, but added that they could also face charges in Australia for breaking the Melbourne lockdown rules.