LOOPHOLE > AU-NZ Travel Bubble

89 replies

GoRobin

Member since 07 May 2020

Total posts 113

The Australian government already has enough on it's plate without wanting to start stalking people. If you have ever dealt with any Federal government department you would know how incompetent they are at the best of times just dealing with trivial things. So no chance for them to step out of their comfort zone with trying to stalk citizens overseas.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

Might still be an idea to spend a few days in NZ first before heading onto Europe. That would be my plan.

mviy

Member since 05 May 2016

Total posts 322

By the time I am vaccinated hopefully travel restrictions will have eased further.

I can’t see myself even considering using this loophole till after I’m fully vaccinated which would be a few weeks(?) after the second dose.

mviy

Member since 05 May 2016

Total posts 322

There's a huge fine in place that could be imposed if the loophole is used and even jail time. So it looks like there will be a flood of exemption requests to travel from people who are vaccinated rather than people trying to use the loophole

WD76

Member since 13 Apr 2021

Total posts 4

Originally Posted by mviy

There's a huge fine in place that could be imposed if the loophole is used and even jail time. So it looks like there will be a flood of exemption requests to travel from people who are vaccinated rather than people trying to use the loophole

Considering not allowing us to leave is against our rights under Australian law and constitution anyway it would be extremely hard for them to get away with that in court.... wouldn't put it past them to try though.

Just saw the new updates on this.... wow, just wow the Aus government really have become a pack of %^&*'s.

Time to get my shit in order and leave this country permanently.


Last editedby WD76 at Apr 21, 2021, 03:06 PM.

GoRobin

Member since 07 May 2020

Total posts 113

I have been a law abiding human all my life living in various countries during that time. And now shortly I will be deemed to be a criminal by the Australian government and thrown into jail should I decide to return. You see I won't pay any fine so jail it will be. I wonder when some Australians will start to demand the death penalty for the likes of me. Now I truly understand how the nazis managed to get the masses to just accept things during the 1930's and 40's without even giving a second thought to what they were doing. It makes me wonder where Australia is going with its perpetual pandemic.

Last editedby GoRobin at Apr 21, 2021, 03:42 PM.

benjo

Member since 17 Apr 2013

Total posts 63

I had come across an article in AFR stating the govt is trying to close this loophole and potential jail time haha. What a load of crap! This is just a scare tactic for people not to do a trip from Aust spend a few days in NZ and then onto another country...

No one will use this loophole for a holiday it will be for extended periods of time and people who have family and friends that we haven't seen for 1.5yrs. There would be a lot of uproar if govt tried to implement something like what the article suggests. I really doubt they have the balls to be honest.

OzDino

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 11 May 2015

Total posts 12

Wow, tough words. All my family, friends and associates in Europe and Asia are in lockdown, Covid is rampant with many restrictions, shops and venues closed, masks compulsory in workplaces, so why the "F" would you want to travel? Sure, the older and frail you are the greater the risk, but many young folk have succumbed as well. I think the AUS & NZ govt's are doing a bloody good job keeping our life here as normal as possible. Don't screw it up!

mviy

Member since 05 May 2016

Total posts 322

People need to travel to see family, conduct business etc. Whilst online meetings can be useful they don't replace meeting face to face. Online meetings keep one going between those face to face meetings, but the governments haven't provided any targets etc. to provide hope and certainty and indicate when things will open up e.g. x % vaccinated or phase 1a and 1b complete we can do this etc.

Hotel quarantine caps are still low like they were 12 months ago. They should have found a way to scale up quarantine capacity by now to get people stranded overseas home, many of whom are in dire straits because they can't afford to stay overseas and can't afford the prices they need to pay to get on a flight home. Flight caps that only really provide room for people flying first or business are not equitable. There don't appear to be any plans in place to scale up quarantine to 2-3x current capacity and even further enabling flight caps to be increased so that airlines have to have a significant number of economy passengers to reach the caps even when first and business are full.

The UK where I need to travel is making very good progress in suppressing the virus. As their vaccine rollout progresses it will become increasingly safer to visit.

Once vaccinated (hoping for late this year) I would consider the risks of travel acceptable health wise. The right to leave and enter one's own country is a basic right. Adults should be allowed to make their own assessments as to whether the risk of travel (health, potentially getting stranded overseas) is acceptable or not. NZ let's their citizens leave even though they advise against it. The risk of a huge fine or imprisonment to travel via NZ isn't one I'm willing to take.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

OzDino, couldn't agree with you more.

Why the desperate need to travel to other countries which are currently experiencing far fewer freedoms than Australians? Even in much of the USA, there are far more restrictions in place than is the case in Australia and New Zealand. Masks are mandatory on all public transport per federal order, even in states that have officially lifted their mandates (such as Florida and Texas) and the same applies to stores, which set their own policy. All the big retailers like Target, Walmart, Costco etc. require masks to be worn, including in Florida and Texas. Ditto for schools and universities, where masks remain mandatory nationwide (although some states are starting to review that).

In Australia and New Zealand, masks are not needed anywhere anymore except at airports and on board commercial flights, but it seems that in the arrivals hall, they're not even enforced. I watched recent footage of the Australia-New Zealand travel bubble and few of the family and friends meeting arrivals were masked. In US, Asian and European airports even 2 year olds must be masked unless they have a medical exemption (not sure if Asian countries would accept them) but American and European ones are supposed to.

In Asia, restrictions are being ramped up, from Malaysia and Thailand to Cambodia and Laos, not to mention India and other countries. Ditto for Europe - fancy being forced to wear a mask on a beach? Well, that's the law in Spain right now.

Australia and New Zealand are the envy of the world at present - you can enjoy a near normal life, everything is open and don't have to wear a mask unless you decide to fly.

GoRobin

Member since 07 May 2020

Total posts 113

TheFreqFlyer...Texas in the USA is the centre of freedom. No more masks and restrictions and the state has made it illegal for anyone to use vaccination passports to discriminate against anyone. Go check out the facts for yourself and you will see also that their mortality rate is diminishing and not much different to ytd figures. So it would be a great place to travel to and I hope they show the rest of the world a sensible way to move forward rather than clinging on to a perpetual pandemic.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

GoRobin - not quite true. Everything I stated above is correct.

I used to live in Texas and from following the news - this is how it works: masks are no longer required at the state level, but retailers can make up their own rules (and they do). Public transport is subject to federal rules (something which does not apply in Australia) meaning anyone catching a bus, train or plane in Texas must still mask up.

Texan schools still require masks (for now) as do it's universities. Austin won a lawsuit filed against it by the state of Texas to retain it's city wide mask mandate.

So while you don't have to wear a mask outside anymore in many parts of the state, they are still required in some settings.

Australia and New Zealand are better at the moment.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

Vaccine passports have indeed been voted against in Texas. However, as in a lot of things in the USA, you have to understand that there are federal, state and sometimes even county laws and that retailers/corporations have the freedom to make up their own rules.

It's quite complex and very different to Australia.

I am getting fed up with this whole "pandemic" too but I maintain the view that Australia and New Zealand are currently the best places to be. Texas is unfortunately not the "centre of freedom" right now. And neither is Florida. West Palm Beach is extending it's mask mandate for another month. Just in the news today.

Do the research, very easy to verify everything I've just stated using the MSM.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

I could say the same thing about vaccines. They are mandatory for school children throughout the USA (which is not the case in Australia except for childcare or to receive government benefits). However, most states have non-medical exemptions. Some, such as California, do not. Only way out is home school. This is due to extensive pharmaceutical lobbying and it's getting worse and worse. Several states, such as Washington and soon Maine, require at least some vaccinations to attend school and they don't accept personal or religious exemptions anymore. The MMR shot being one of the vaccines required (so far the only one in the case of Washington).

Schools in Australia might want to sight a vaccine record, but even if it's blank, it's accepted and the student can be enrolled. There is no vaccination mandate to attend school in Australia, which is already better than the USA overall.

I love the libertarian outlook on life many Americans have but the country itself simply isn't as "free" as many people make it out to be.

TheFreqFlyer

Member since 05 Oct 2017

Total posts 89

Therefore, GoRobin, while your heart is in the right place, I'm afraid you haven't gotten all the facts about the situation in the USA. It's not as black and white as you make it out to be.

If you're in Australia right now, then surely you know that masks aren't required anywhere anymore and that whatever mask mandates were in place were short-lived (except Victoria) but even there I believe they've finally lifted their mandate.

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