- A travel bubble opened between New Zealand, NSW and the Northern Territory has already had its rules breached
- On its first day of operation, a number of passengers arriving in Sydney also made flights to Perth and Melbourne
- Only 21 of an expected 55 travellers have been accounted for in Melbourne
- Meanwhile, all 23 visitors to Perth have been placed in hotel and home quarantine
- Immigration Minister Alan Tudge, backed by a statement from the Federal Government, claims internal flights were to be expected and that state Premiers were aware
- This is despite the visible surprise from Premiers Dan Andrews and Mark McGowan
A travel bubble opened between New Zealand and a number of select Australian states has already had its guidelines broken.
The bubble opened on Friday, allowing travellers from New Zealand to visit New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
However, visitors arriving in NSW reportedly used the opportunity to book flights to Western Australia and Victoria on its first day of operation.
55 travellers are believed to have made their way to Melbourne, while 23 arrived in Perth.
Authorities in Victoria have already intercepted arrivals, with a handful of passengers making their way back to New South Wales.
However, only 21 of the expected 55 passengers were actually intercepted at Melbourne airport.
Of those who were met by authorities, The Department of Health and Human Services states all necessary COVID-19 guidelines have been explained to them.
Meanwhile in Perth, all 23 passengers have been placed into new-arrival quarantine — either at home or in a hotel.
Both Mark McGowan and Dan Andrews, Premiers of Western Australia and Victoria, respectively, have criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the situation.
Daniel Andrews expresses disappointment
In a media press event, the Victorian Premier showed visible irritation at the lack of communication.
“We were asked, ‘Do you want to be in the bubble?’ and we said no”.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews
The Premier was initially told to expect 17 passengers, but that was later changed to 55. In addition, passengers expected to be in Melbourne were reportedly still in Sydney— making the situation harder to manage.
“This is ‘gold standard’, apparently, according to the Federal Government,” Daniel Andrews stated. “We were given a list 12 hours after [the passengers arrived].”
Specifically, Andrews called on Immigration Minister, Alan Tudge, to show better cooperation.
“[Minister Tudge,] work with us. Let’s make sure Victoria is not part of the bubble, that we never agreed to be in,” the Premier continued.
It’s understood that Andrews also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison to prevent passengers from taking internal flights throughout Australia.
However, speaking to media, Alan Tudge claimed the Victorian Government was aware of the situation.
“[The Victorian Government was] made aware, that this was going to occur,” he said.
“They raised no objections in the meetings. And furthermore, expressly authorised individuals, who were arriving into Sydney from New Zealand, to be able to then travel to Victoria,” the minister explained.
Mark McGowan asks for better cooperation
WA Premier Mark McGowan also addressed the media on Sunday.
“This was not something we expected,” he said.
“We would like further assistance from the Commonwealth, in particular about making sure that those people who come on aircraft into WA that we get proper manifests, and proper advice, as to those people that are coming so we can deal with these situations,” he continued.
“We picked these people up via the use of our app […] and we put them into quarantine,” the WA Premier concluded.
Through an official statement, the Australian Federal Government has placed responsibility on the travellers themselves.
“On arrival into Australia from New Zealand, passengers are advised to check the entry requirements for other states which includes needing to undertake hotel quarantine if they travel to WA,” the statement read.
“It is exactly the same arrangement for if a traveller from any Australian state went to WA, they would be required to undertake hotel quarantine,”it continued.
Like Minister Tudge, the statement also claimed the travel bubble was operating as expected as per previous meetings held — despite the visible surprise by both McGowan and Andrews.