Peter Dunne: Government bowing to pressure from Australia on travel bubble

Pressure from Australia is likely to be behind the move from our Government to make a move on the trans-Tasman bubble. Anticipation is building ahead of Cabinet's discussion around a two-way trans-Tasman travel bubble with Australia.Ministers are expected to meet tomorrow to talk about a potential start date, and it is understood it could be put in place between mid to late April.Public pressure over the last week has been seen by some as being a factor in pushing the Government towards this move. Former Minister and United Future leader Peter Dunne agrees that will be a factor, but he told The Weekend Collective that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's comments criticising the Government's slowness, and reports about the country looking for a Singapore bubble instead, will have a bigger factor. "I think Australia to some extent has forced New Zealand to come to the party sooner than we might have expected."He says Australia has very effective Covid-19 controls, and given there is "clear air" there is no reason why we shouldn't go ahead. Dunne expects families will benefit from the bubble at first - but the idea of travelling internationally might draw people overseas instead of going around New Zealand. "That might be something our industry will find a little hard to take."LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.