LOOPHOLE > AU-NZ Travel Bubble

You are perfectly entitled to wait for as long a you wish before travelling. But not everyone thinks like you. I have travelled. I am currently out of Australia (not in NZ) and was perfectly happy to complete quarantine when I entered another country and when I return to Australia soon I will quarantine again. It's my choice, it may not be what you think is sound reasoning but I can tell you I am not alone. And I am happy to be sent to a remote location, I am happy to complete 21 or 28 days quarantine. For 13 months I have been metaphorically dead. If I had waited until mid 2022 for borders to open, my life could actually have been over. I only get one chance at life, we all only get one chance.
You will never agree with me, that's ok. I will never agree with you. The best thing is that your opinion has had zero impact on what I have done!

Very well put.

And the thing I don’t understand about this bleating is if you have good reason to leave apply and if the reason is good enough you will be allowed to leave.

Oh and to those that say it is their right to leave including one who suggested it’s in the constitution, well no it isn’t. In fact grant of a passport which is clearly a prerequisite to leave the country (legally) is actually considered a privilege rather than a right.

Australia is the only western democracy without a Charter or Bill of Human Rights. All countries with legal and political systems similar to Australia have a Bill or Charter of Human Rights. ... And there's not much to stop the Government from introducing laws that take away our fundamental rights and freedoms

And yet that hasn't stopped European countries from taking away more rights than the Australian government has done over the past year in particular.

I'm no law expert but given that it is illegal according to the Australian constitution to force a vaccine on a person, whereas in many European countries it is mandatory for children to receive them with no non-medical exemptions allowed, Australia seems like it upholds human rights better. The European human rights court recently ruled that it does not contravene human rights to force vaccinate. That is a frightening precedent for what's about to come.

Some European countries have had mask wearing laws on their books for the past year. In Spain, mask wearing extends even to beaches.

Even in the USA, state and federal governments have been chipping away at fundamental freedoms in round about ways. In California, children must be vaccinated to attend school. No exceptions except for medical reasons, which are being scrutinized too. In the "land of the free". Go figure that one out.

Again, not trying to claim Australia is this bastion of freedom, but relative to the rest of the world, including much of the USA, things have been far more relaxed in Australia (barring Victoria last year).

Going around the world quarantining yourself for weeks at a time sounds like jail. That would make me feel "metaphorically dead".

Fortunately your arrogance and penchant for masochism, such as willingly going through quarantine multiple times has no bearing on my life.

My opinion is simply that life in Australia right now is so much better than most other parts of the world. I think any rational person would agree with me.

I'm currently overseas too and am so jealous of Aussies being allowed to walk around without masks. Here people are living in fear, some of them even wear masks at home.

I have to limit my movements for the next two weeks so I don't get a possible fine for driving around without a mask. I refuse to wear these slave muzzles. That's how crazy things have become and I am pretty sure there are no human rights charters or bill of rights I can use if the police decide to fine me in this part of the world.

I'll lay low and wait until things start looking better then I'll travel. Even if I have to wait a year. Besides, wearing a mask for a 9 hour flight? God no. I'm not doing that!

Anyway, the world remains largely closed. That's why so many countries have 2 week quarantines in place. To deter you from going.

What I don't understand based on the responses in this thread and similar ones over the past year, is that most people are bitching about how inhumane it is that the Australian government is not permitting overseas travel (other than to New Zealand) for Australian residents.

Of course in principle it is inhumane, but we're basically restricted from traveling due to the crazy restrictions currently in place in other countries. We can't just get up and go across the border anymore. Where I am right now, I could drive to the border in just over 2 hours. But I'm not allowed to cross it. I'd have to arrange with the embassy of the country concerned to get all the relevant travel documents, get a PCR test (which I refuse, as it's dangerous and violates my freedom) and then quarantine for 2 weeks upon arrival in that country. And they'll probably demand I fly there, even though there's several land border crossings. I'd need to have US$2000 in cash to be allowed to go there and upon arrival, I'll find myself in lockdown with everything closed.

So the point is, the Australia government's travel ban isn't really the issue - it's the de-facto ban on travel the rest of the world has imposed.

I think if someone is normally living abroad and wants to depart, fine, let them go. Just that I find this back and forth complaining about this ban, while ignoring the other, far more concerning abuses of human rights rather puzzling.

It's good you are laying low, the rest of us are out here living life with a smile on our faces.

Not when they're in lockdown. Or have to worry about whether they'll have enough money to pay the bills. Or are living under a tyrannical government in general.

Stop being facetious. You love tyranny, but the majority of people don't.

Freq in India it has not only been wedding season but also state elections with rallies being led by the PM. So all those restrictions (eg a colleague in Kolkata was on 20 hours curfew per day) were dropped in February some time, and look what happened; and all was predicted

And now they've been reimposed. Many states are now back on curfew. Things are far from open or free in India at the moment, I can assure you of that.

This still needs the question considered, not about curfews in India, but people using NZ to escape from Australian border restrictions. Many have done it, many will still do it, that will continue. The question is not about if people will leave, they undoubtedly will. What remains is what restrictions are in place for people entering Australia from anywhere but especially from countries with high infection rates.

The point is that different people will do different things and find it quite acceptable. All totally within the law. Many will use the loophole to leave Australia via NZ. Some will think it unacceptable but many will find no problem. It's not against the law so you can have a personal opinion to not use it but you cannot tell others not to use it.

Yes, that's the same comment I've made. If people want to leave and put up with all the restrictions imposed at their destination, whether it be a quarantine upon arrival, curfews, enduring a lockdown, that's up to them.

My concern lies more with the restrictions imposed on Aussies returning home. A 14 day user paid quarantine, the need for a pre-boarding negative PCR test and multiple tests during quarantine, as well as the flight quotas being just some of them.

Get off your high horse. Please respect other people's opinions rather than imposing your self-righteousness on others.

I've tried to be very civil here.

Of course you can choose to put up with whatever restrictions you want, that's your pejorative. Most people don't have the time or money, to waste on spending weeks in quarantine though. If someone is so desperate to leave the relative freedom of Australia (and New Zealand) for a lockdown in Asia or Europe, fine, let them go. I never said that should be restricted. I simply said to question whether that's a good idea. I've been away from family and friends for 15 months now too. It is what it is. I hate it, but complaining about it isn't going to change things.

Many of us are hurting right now. I'll be frank with you - I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get back to my business I run in a particular Asian country that underwent a coup and is now on the brink of a civil war. I think a lot of us are faced with the grim reality, that the world has changed now, and getting into a tantrum about it, like a little child, simply isn't going to change anything.

I wish this was all a dream and we could just emerge from this nightmare, but in reality, we're just going to have to wait.

We have found something to agree on!

It is good to see the Australian government stop flights from countries with high infection rates, that should continue until their numbers reduce to a certain level. Then we could put alternative restrictions in place such as 28 days quarantine for anyone who has been in a high infection rate country in the previous 90 days. This will hopefully stop people going to Kuala Lumpur and finding a way in here after. It will also potentially reduce the amount of people who will use NZ to go to countries such as this as they have to consider how difficult it may be to return.