Travellers from Australia - including returning Kiwis - are having to fork out hundreds for pre-departure tests before their trip across the Tasman as New Zealand’s Government tightens down on its travel bubble restrictions.
Passengers must return a negative result before entering New Zealand but can’t use a free community testing station under the requirements.
Instead, it needs to be done by a pathologist - which can come with a hefty price tag.
“Most people should be able to get a test for a couple of hundred dollars,” Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said last week.
“It’s just one of the realities of the way the world is at the moment.”
It’s a costly contrast to standard Covid tests, offered for free to anyone in Australia regardless of whether they’re a resident or not.
One Kiwi is calling on authorities to refund families who have had to pay for tests, only to have their flights cancelled after green flights with New South Wales were halted.
It comes as the NSW grapples with soaring infections, despite lockdown measures, after recording 77 new cases and its first death in 10 months yesterday.
Ashwin Naidu, an admin of a travel bubble group, says the tests can be costly for those affected.
There are over 4000 New Zealanders stranded in Australia hoping to grab one of the thousand spots in MIQ but Naidu says it just “doesn’t add up.”
“Many of them have come overseas to go to funerals or visit loved ones and it’s just the stress of hotel bills and pre-departure testing that isn’t right at this time.”
There’s growing frustration among those desperate to come back after Hipkins u-turned on his decision allowing New Zealanders on to green flights last week - opting to make them apply to MIQ.
“Lots of people were meant to come back on Friday when the green flights were meant to start and they spent hundreds of dollars on pre-departure testing which has become null and void,” Naidu told Breakfast.
“They want the Government to make testing more affordable for New Zealanders to return back.”
He said some had been tempted to break local restrictions to get back but face “hefty fines” if they do.
“A lot of people have been tempted to transfer through another state but they’re being warned.”
Naidu criticised the Government’s demands that travellers seek a pathologist test before flying to New Zealand, arguing tests from local centres should be enough to satisfy authorities.
“You can get the same information from the free clinics in Australia … I just don’t understand why New Zealand won’t accept those ones.
By limiting the ways people can travel across the Tasman, Kiwis who live in Australia are now having to compete for places in managed isolation with those on overseas holidays.
“The Government can’t deny access to New Zealand citizens so obviously it’s just a race to get back.”
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