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Regional | Aotearoa

Aotearoa-Tasmania travel bubble might come first, Winston Peters says

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says a 'Trans-Tasman bubble' for travellers could start with a state-by-state approach including Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

He's being more cautious about a travel bubble with the Pacific though, even though the Cook Islands government is raring to go.

Asked how close Aotearoa was to bringing the 'Trans-Tasman bubble' idea to fruition, Peters explained there was a hitch.

"To begin the bubble with Australia requires Australians to be allowed to travel interstate and they're not. It requires the central government to consent to one of the states, such as Tasmania or Queensland, which look to be the ideal ones at this point.

"I know Tasmania is small but we used to travel between our countries in the 1990s, so why not now set a precedent and demonstrate it can be done."

Peters is equally cautious about spreading the bubble to the Pacific and both aviation and maritime security needed to be considered if tourists were to go there. "We're working through those protocols.