Murray Olds: One-way travel bubble already burst by runaway Kiwis

Published: Oct. 19, 2020, 1:10 a.m.

Australian state officials are reportedly scrambling to gain access to airline passenger lists to identify travellers who have arrived from New Zealand under the trans-Tasman bubble arrangement.
It comes after flights from New Zealand touched down at Sydney Airport on Friday carrying international passengers who, for the first time in seven months, did not need to quarantine upon arrival.
However, while the arrangements were meant to permit New Zealanders to travel freely into NSW and the Northern Territory, 23 have slipped into WA, and 55 to Victoria without the state governments' knowledge.
Five travellers have also entered Tasmania and are currently in hotel quarantine.
Victorian officials have reportedly asked the Australian Border Force to speed up the release of passenger lists to prevent a repeat of the surprise arrival when more flights land from New Zealand.
It comes after Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued a statement on Sunday night revealing it had made contact with all 55 travellers to Victoria.
The statement said: "The travellers, some in family groups and most staying in private homes, were provided with information about Covid-19 and the current Victorian health directions.
"Three of the travellers did not cross the border into Victoria and remain in NSW, and one who was in Victoria returned to NSW today.
"Twenty-one of the 55 travellers arrived at Melbourne Airport on Friday and Saturday.
"The remainder arrived using other modes of transport.
"DHHS Authorised Officers continue to meet incoming flights at Melbourne Airport and provide information to arriving passengers."
Meanwhile, the 23 people who "jumped borders" from NSW to WA are in mandatory quarantine.
Premier Mark McGowan first announced on Sunday morning that 25 people had arrived in the state, before the number was officially revised to 23 later in the day.
He called for "better management" after the New Zealanders slipped in without exemptions.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is leaving it to state officials to contact airlines themselves under a decision made by the national Cabinet on September 18.
"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," said a federal government spokesman at the weekend.
More flights are due to arrive from New Zealand in the coming days.
On Sunday, Premier Daniel Andrews called on the federal government to "work" with Victoria, saying the state never agreed to be part of the travel bubble.
It comes after Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge claimed the Victorian government "authorised" a group of 17 people who arrived from New Zealand to enter the state.
Under the deal between the two nations, New Zealanders are permitted to travel quarantine-free into both NSW and the Northern Territory, under the proviso they've not been in a Covid-19 hotspot in the 14 days leading up to their travel.
Tudge savaged the Victoria government, saying: "The fact that people cannot recall being in meetings, people cannot recall emails being sent, people cannot recall making decisions, it is just deja vu in relation to the Victorian government.
"That just seems to be a pattern now of not being able to recall what is going on, not being able to recall being at meetings, not being able to recall sending emails to authorise such activities".
However, Andrews has hit back at suggestions Victoria agreed to be part of the travel bubble saying "we can't just have people wandering into the place from another country".
He said they had now been informed 55 travellers from New Zealand had arrived.
"We are having to find these people," he said.
"We are ringing them, one of them was in Byron Bay. And yet we were told they had landed and travelled to Melbourne."
He said his "advice to Minister Tudge is, instead of stubbornly defending this, work with us and let's make sure Victoria is no...