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Photo: SAM MOOY
The bubble, in its present form, allows only for New Zealanders to visit Australia, at their own risk of border closures and lockdowns. Australians, conversely, have been left waiting since last April, when the concept was first proposed (admittedly a little optimistically, as first detailed by this title) for approval to holiday in New Zealand.
Not unlike the serial border shutdowns in Australia, which have grievously undermined confidence in future interstate travel, the temporary trans-Tasman suspension has jeopardised, if not ruined, the one principal chance of overseas travel for Australians before at least 2022.
It coincides with the point at which the beleaguered Australian tourism industry is shouting brace, brace, brace with JobKeeper set to be withdrawn by the federal government next month with the abruptness of an airborne jetliner suddenly running out of fuel.