Australia has tightened rules for its new travel bubble with New Zealand after it emerged that travellers were using it to breach Canberra's strict restrictions and fly on to other destinations. The quarantine-free travel bubble between the two neighbours opened on April 18, ending more than a year of restricted travel.
But the bubble also presented Australians with a loophole, offering an "escape route" through which they could flout the federal government's ban on travelling overseas.
Australia has some of the world's most stringent international travel restrictions amid the Covid-19 pandemic, including a ban on leaving the country unless the traveller has received special exemption from the Australian Border Force (ABF). Officials say exemptions are granted for reasons such as to attend a funeral or for work purposes. In the year to March 31, officials reportedly approved 134,758 of 281,630 exemption requests.
Art teacher Tim Byrnes was one of the first Australians to fly to New Zealand after the bubble opened, but he then flew on to Russia, where he had been living and working since 2016.
"I've escaped," he told The Sun Herald. "I get to go back to my life."
Mr Byrnes said he returned to Australia in January last year for a short visit. After the borders closed, he said, he applied for an exemption to return to Russia but was rejected.
The ABF said it could not prevent people flying on from New Zealand to other destinations but noted that Australians who did so would still need to undergo 14 days of quarantine when they return to Australia. In addition, many travellers will struggle to return to Australia, which has restricted the number of incoming passengers.
"Those who travel onwards from New Zealand to another international destination must be aware that returning to Australia or New Zealand may be difficult due to the current restrictions on passenger numbers and the availability of flights," an ABF spokesman told The Australian Financial Review.
Canberra has tightened rules for the new travel bubble in a bid to ensure people do not exploit it to travel beyond New Zealand. Those who break the rules reportedly face fines of up to A$63,000 (S$64,900) and jail terms of up to five years.
The government has said that travel beyond New Zealand - which, like Australia, is largely free of local Covid-19 transmissions - posed a potential public health risk.
"Increasing the number of Australians overseas in countries that are not low risk and who are wishing to return home… increases the likelihood of new cases being identified in quarantine facilities, and the potential risk of those cases leaching into the Australian community causing localised outbreaks and transmission," the government said in an explanation of its new rules.
Australia's new bubble with New Zealand has prompted airlines to add extra flights and has raised hopes of more such bubbles with places like Singapore and Taiwan which have low rates of Covid-19 infections.
Hong Kong officials have also reportedly suggested that the city's travel bubble arrangements with Singapore - due to begin next month - could be replicated to enable bubbles with Australia and New Zealand.
But the Australia-New Zealand bubble encountered its first challenge late last week when Perth, in Western Australia, went into lockdown for three days after at least four locally transmitted Covid-19 cases were recorded.
New Zealand said it had "paused" travel to the Australian state until its authorities provided further advice.
The lockdown ended on Monday night but face masks remain compulsory in the state until Saturday. New Zealand said quarantine-free travel with Western Australia will be resumed from today.
