The Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) welcomed the announcement that two-way, quarantine-free trans-Tasman travel can commence from midnight (NZ time) on Sunday 18th April 2021.

ANZLF Australian Co-chair Ann Sherry AO said: "This is wonderful news for the 600,000 New Zealanders living in Australia who will now be able to travel home to see families and friends and share important occasions. It is also great for all the Australians who are keen to have a holiday in New Zealand, and New Zealanders wanting to holiday in Australia without going through quarantine on their return. We expect there will be significant pent-up demand. We hope that tourism companies on both sides will benefit from the resumption of quarantine free travel.

ANZLF New Zealand Co-chair Greg Lowe ONZM said "We also look forward to a growth in business travel in both directions. Our countries are very closely linked economically, with around $27 billion in two-way trade flowing between New Zealand and Australia (pre-COVID19). This meant about 400,000 business trips a year across the Tasman. We look forward to seeing that building back up. We also look forward to being able to hold the next ANZLF meeting face to face in Sydney later this year.

Greg Lowe said It is gratifying to see the resumption of trans-Tasman travel after many months of planning. Last year the ANZLF worked in collaboration with the aviation sector to develop a comprehensive and detailed blueprint for a trans-Tasman travel without a managed isolation period. This plan was presented to the two Prime Ministers in June 2020 and it underpins many of the operational arrangements being put in place by airports and airlines such as new processes, enhanced cleaning protocols and infrastructure management to ensure the physical separation of passengers.

Ann Sherry said "It’s time the low risk of COVID19 transmission between the countries is recognised with more open travel arrangements. However, travellers will need to make an informed decision about other risks associated with trans-Tasman travel such as the potential for short term border closures in the event of any local outbreaks of COVID19. We encourage the two Governments to continue to share information with each other and the public about any changes in the public health status in either country due to local COVID19 hotspots and how that might impact on trans-Tasman travel".

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