West Australian Health Minister Roger Cook says he does not want to see people using New Zealand to ‘bunny-hop’ into Australia as the state weighs up how to approach the newly announced trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Free travel between Australia and New Zealand without quarantining for COVID-19 will start on April 19 but WA is concerned about what other countries may get involved. Mr Cook said there was a real prospect WA would treat New Zealand like any other state in Australia for travel arrangements but would get advice from WA’s Chief Health Officer in the coming days. “There’s a couple of things which come into play. Obviously it’s about what other travellers come into New Zealand and where they come from, how they are treated,” he said.

“So we don’t want to see a situation where someone can essentially use New Zealand as a bunny hop situation.
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Key points:

• WA's border will re-open after 14 days without community spread
• Mark McGowan says he won't hesitate to reintroduce the hard border
• New Zealand travellers will be able to arrive quarantine-free from April 19

Western Australia is making major changes to its COVID-19 restrictions, by relaxing its interstate border rules to re-open to other states quicker following closures.

WA will open up its border to travellers from other states where there has been 14 days without a case of community transmitted coronavirus, down from 28 days. The new 14-day benchmark will mean that, pending no further outbreaks, Queensland will be classed as a ‘very low risk’ state from Monday, April 19.

Premier Mark McGowan said the hard border would continue to be used when needed.
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