SYDNEY – Australia has begun to wind back its coronavirus restrictions but overseas travel won’t start any time soon.
When it does, the first country to join Australia in a ‘travel bubble’ will be near-neighbour New Zealand which, like Australia, has been successful in containing the spread of the virus.
Following New Zealand, candidates for the ‘bubble’ are Japan, South Korea and possibly China.
However, Australia’s favourite holiday destination, Bali, will have to wait as there are concerns in Australia about Indonesia’s healthcare capability.
Nev Power, who heads up Australia's Covid-19 recovery taskforce, believes opportunities to visit a few key destinations in Asia will be under consideration.
“I think there are opportunities to look at specific destinations and specific testing — departure and arrival testing — so that critical activities and key travel can get going earlier.
“We have very significant trade links with Japan, Korea, China so there may be opportunities to restart that.”