With a date set for the start of a one-way travel bubble between New Zealand and certain states in Australia, the question being asked is what about the Cook Islands?
16 October has been confirmed as the date when people will be able to travel from New Zealand to New South Wales and the Northern Territory in Australia.
The one-way travel bubble only allows Kiwis to travel to Australia at this stage.
Prime Minister Mark Brown welcomed the announcement and said it was positive that these steps are being initiated.
“From our side, we have been working very closely with the New Zealand Government we have confirmed the formal arrangements required to put in place quarantine travel between our two countries,” he said.
“There are a few finer technical points to iron out and plus the visiting officials that will come to verify our protocols and officials also going to do the same.”
Brown said the discussions that began a few months back was put on hold because of the recent Covid-19 outbreak in Auckland.
He also confirmed that he had a phone conversation with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last Thursday and quarantine-free travel was one of the things they talked about.
“Once the situation in New Zealand is contained and once they have 28 days of Covid free community transmission we will be in a position to initiate quarantine free travel,” Brown said.
Another “spanner in the works” in terms of finalising quarantine travel between the two countries has been the New Zealand Election which has been deferred from September to October.
Brown has every confidence in the nation’s health system’s ability to cope if there was to be an outbreak and said his expectation is that the arrangement will be in place by December.
“I expect it will be a trickle to start with, but as time goes on and as we head towards the Christmas period, I think the demand to travel to Cook Islands will be tremendous,” he said.
“That gives us some comfort in terms of economic recovery that could happen sooner than expected.”
Last week New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told Cook Islands News there remains a range of aspects that they need to get right before any travel zone with Australia or Pacific Island countries can be established, and officials continue to work urgently on these.
“We have a continued interest in opening a Trans-Tasman travel bubble with individual Australian states, and New Zealand Realm countries, that can meet our health requirements,” Peters said.
“We look forward to working with the respective state governments as soon as is possible.
“A safe travel zone will have a wide range of benefits for our people and our economies, boosting our tourism and transport sectors, enhancing sporting and cultural connections, and reuniting family and friends across our borders.”
Real estate mogul Mike Pero said the proposed new air service between Christchurch and Rarotonga Jet Raro still remains a possibility but there are challenges.
“We continue to remain very keen on the service to and from Rarotonga but there are a number of obstacles that have continued to provide us with uncertainty. Namely the unpredictability of the borders at both ends,” Pero said.
Any commitment to an airline service, needs to be viewed long term and it needs to be consistent, Pero said.
“We thought a ‘bubble’ between New Zealand and the Cooks was likely to happen about six weeks ago but that changed overnight and since then we have seen how quickly Covid-19 can change things,” he said.
“I think the Cooks, like other nations needs to have its own flag carrier and one that the locals support and that Kiwis can identify with.
“Those discussions will perhaps take place down the line. In the meantime, we are interested to see what plays out with this virus.
“For now, my thoughts are with my friends, my family and the people of the Cook Islands, who are all doing it real tough.”
Former Prime Minister Henry Puna Brown revealed that he had a phone call with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who gave assurance of an Australia vaccine programme.
Puna said Cook Islands is top of the priority list to receive the vaccine once it is approved.
