Queensland will open its borders back up to New Zealanders from Saturday, pushing Aussies and our Kiwi cousins one step closer to a two-way travel ‘bubble’.
The stat’s Premier, Annastacia Palaszcuk, made the announcement on her social media channels this morning.
“Queensland’s borders will open to New Zealand from 1am Saturday 12 December,” she said on both Facebook and Twitter.
“More New Zealand citizens call Queensland home than any other Australian state, and COVID has kept many of their families apart for months.
“With Kiwis able to travel to Queensland from tomorrow, families can finally be reunited in time for Christmas.”
Palaszcuk told Nine’s Today that New Zealand had reached 28 days of zero community transmission.
“Dr Young advised me yesterday that she was more than happy to allow New Zealanders to come into Queensland,” she said.
BREAKING: Queensland's borders will open to New Zealand from 1am Saturday 12 December.
More New Zealand citizens call Queensland home than any other Australian state.
With Kiwis able to travel to Queensland from tomorrow, families can finally be reunited in time for Christmas. pic.twitter.com/c60q73OLNj
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@a_palaszczuk) December 10, 2020
On 16 October, NSW and the Northern Territory became the first Australian states to reopen borders to Kiwi travellers who had not visited a COVID-19 hotspot in 14 days.
However, Australians are not yet allowed to travel to New Zealand without quarantining for 14 days.
Last month, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern said she didn’t “have the necessary protections” to open New Zealand’s border to Aussies anytime soon, and argued that Australia’s higher tolerance of COVID-19 community transmission was “problematic”, pointing to the recent outbreak scare in South Australia.
The news comes just days after Queensland announced it will reopen its borders to Adelaide on Saturday, as Western Australia welcomed back travellers from NSW and Victoria.
Featured image source: Facebook/Annastacia Palaszczuk
