CALLS ANSWERED FOR SEAMLESS TRANS-TASMAN TRAVEL

The tourism sector has welcomed the significant progress announced by the leaders of Australia and New Zealand today towards creating a seamless Trans-Tasman border, to help deliver quicker, easier travel between the two nations.

Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TFF) CEO Margy Osmond said the commitment to establishing a joint working group to report back by the end of June next year, was a fantastic first step towards reform.

“This is terrific news for travellers and the tourism sector. We want to make travelling between Australia and New Zealand as smooth as possible and this group will help lead the best path forward to achieve it,” Ms Osmond said.

“TTF and our colleagues at the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF) have been working towards and advocating for a seamless, hi-tech border and it is great to see both Prime Ministers responding to the opportunity this represents. Both countries have listened and recognised the importance of these changes.”

“We hope this group can help revolutionise travel across the Tasman. By bringing together experts from both sides, our countries can examine how we can make processing passengers faster and more secure by taking advantage of existing technology.

“With the group to report back by the middle of the next year, we hope to see a trial or pilot program potentially in place by the end of next year.

“This also allows us to potentially use Trans-Tasman routes as a test case for some of the wider reforms flagged by the Australian Border Force to improve Australia’s border processes more broadly.

“Today’s announcement is another example of the strength of Australia’s relationship with New Zealand, our closest friend and ally, and shows how our countries continue to work effectively together to make real progress on crucial reforms.”