PM Jacinda Ardern says the transtasman bubble pause will be lifted for Western Australia and the Northern Territory from 11.59pm on July 9, but will remain in place for Queensland and New South Wales.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the transtasman bubble pause will be lifted for Western Australia and the Northern Territory from 11.59pm on July 9, but will remain in place for Queensland and New South Wales.
However, people stranded there who ordinarily reside in New Zealand will be able to also return from 11.59pm on July 9 provided they meet a range of pre-travel requirements.
The pause for Queensland would be reassessed on Wednesday but would remain in place for the "foreseeable future" for NSW, Ardern said at today's post-Cabinet press briefing.
Like for other states that reopened this morning, those travelling from WA and the NT would need to return negative Covid-19 tests within 72 hours of departure and not be connected to any outbreaks.
Those in NSW and Queensland who ordinarily resided in New Zealand would be able to return from the same time subject to a range of requirements similar to those for people who returned from Victoria during the pause there.
These include returning a negative Covid-19 test; a declaration that they have not been in a location of interest in the past 14 days; not be symptomatic; not a close contact of a positive case; and not be awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test.
This recognised those people would have spent more than 14 days in Australia, she said.
This applies to New Zealand citizens and holders of residence-class visas, holders of temporary visas, and Australian citizens who last departed New Zealand after 5 April 2021; holders of current permanent residence visas including a resident return visa issued by Australia last departing New Zealand after 5 April, 2021, and family members of these people.
Ardern said the message to Kiwis travelling to Australia had always been "flyer beware".
It comes after a partial reopening of the transtasman quarantine-free travel bubble this morning for people in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and ACT.
People from those states can travel here freely, with evidence of a negative pre-departure test within 72 hours of boarding.
Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and ACT have recently had limited or no community cases of Covid-19.
However, NSW - Sydney in particular - is still recording high numbers of cases.
The state today recorded 35 new community cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in Sydney's outbreak to 312. Seven of those were infectious in the community.
The greater Sydney area is still under lockdown until midnight on Friday.
Pfizer vaccine delivery
Ardern said the Pfizer delivery today of 150,000 doses meant there were enough vaccines in stock to confidently plan for the next four weeks ahead.
This was New Zealand's largest shipment to date, and the first of four this month totalling more than a million doses.
Asked if she would accept some Covid-19 being in the community once the vaccine rollout was complete, Ardern said the thinking was to preserve "as many New Zealanders as possible".
"Variants do pose a new risk ... we will continue to watch and observe".
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said he would like to see saliva testing rolled out more quickly, with the Government being recommended to roll it out in September.
Some workers suggested they preferred the nasal swab because saliva testing meant people could not have smoked or eaten for a "reasonable period" beforehand, he said.
"I would like to see it more widely used and will lean on the team."
The Government announced last week it was looking into mandatory QR code scanning and mask use in high-risk areas and at different alert levels.
Ardern said the Government has some initial advice but was waiting on more information.
Cabinet would look to make announcements next week.
The Government also wanted to have further conversations with those directly affected to ensure it was easy to manage, Ardern said.
They were looking at compulsory QR scanning in high-risk areas as a precaution at alert level 1.
With masks they were looking at use requirements at each different level, but as it was thought of more as a reaction to a threat rather than a wider precautionary measure, higher mask restrictions would likely be applied at higher alert levels, she said.
Fiji outbreak
On Fiji's Covid outbreak, where cases were rising and deaths increasing, Ardern said she had spoken to Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama last week.
New Zealand had provided Fiji $40 million in aid, support in PPE and AstraZeneca vaccines.
Given MedSafe had not yet approved the vaccine here, New Zealand had been supporting the vaccine rollout through Australia.
The Fiji Prime Minister said any delays to vaccine deliveries because of New Zealand's approvals would not materially affect the situation, Ardern said.
Samoa, return of Kiritapu Allan and China
On the ongoing political drama in Samoa, Ardern reiterated her call for all individuals and parties to uphold decisions of the judiciary.
"We hold great faith in the systems of Samoa - their electoral system, their judicial system, the rulings of the court, and their ability to use those institutions to be able to resolve the impasse that they've reached.
"If you look at those rulings they've very clearly delivered a path for Samoa."
New Zealand had a very close relationship with Samoa and was in contact, but avoided making a statement on whether intervention by other states may be required, she said.
Ardern also welcomed back to Parliament Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan, following treatment about three months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
"To have her walk back into Cabinet and take her seat and just resume the position that she had was just a really great moment for everyone," Ardern said.
She intended to return all portfolios to Allan, including Emergency Management position which remained with Kris Faafoi for a couple of weeks as she settled back in.
Allan inspired her, as she did also before the diagnosis, Ardern said.
Responding to comments from Labour MP Louisa Wall who criticised China over what she called the slave labour trade in China, the harvesting of organs from Uyghurs and Falun Gong populations, Ardern said Wall was speaking in her capacity on the International Parliamentary Alliance on China, not as a MP.
Ardern said New Zealand did not receive organ donations from overseas aside from Australia, and has taken a range of measures to address slave labour.
In May Parliament unanimously called for action to prevent severe human rights abuses in the majority-Uyghur region of Xinjiang, but stopped short of declaring it a genocide.
Partial reopening the right move - Baker
Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker told RNZ this morning he considered the partial reopening of the travel bubble safe enough, but said the Government must act quickly if cases emerge.
The Government had proven willing to move quickly and suspend travel if there is an outbreak, he said.
"The other measure, of course, is pre-travel negative Covid-19 tests, which just adds another layer of protection for New Zealand," Baker said.
The Sydney case in Wellington was a very close shave, and showed the risks the bubble poses.
"If there's any evidence of transmission in a state in Australia, we need a very low bar in terms of rapidly suspending travel from that jurisdiction."
