The health arguments are sound, and the economic and cultural imperatives are clear. The Pacific islands need to be prioritised post-Covid over the trans-Tasman bubble, writes public health expert Collin Tukuitonga. 

Much has been made about the need to open a trans-Tasman travel bubble as a priority. This is despite the fact that Australia continues to report new cases of Covid-19. Yesterday there were nine new cases notified, with around 10% of recent cases locally acquired with no known local contact.

This presents unacceptable risk to New Zealand’s Covid-free status irrespective of any measures at the border on arrival.

Meanwhile the realm countries (the Cooks, Niue and Tokelau) have been and remain without any cases of the coronavirus. Samoa and Tonga have also remained free of Covid-19. Fiji has reported cases of Covid-19 but they have reported no new cases for more than 28 days. The conclusion is obvious: A quarantine-free travel bubble including New Zealand  and the Pacific islands presents a low risk of Covid-19 spread for this country and these islands – provided travelers originate in NZ only. These islands have shown that they have robust public health in place that prevented the introduction and spread of Covid-19.

These islands have successfully protected their citizens from the threat of Covid-19. The restrictions that have come in the cause of public health have, however, enormously damaged their economies as most rely heavily on tourism from NZ and Australia.

The Cook Islands economy is 87% dependent on tourism. Business leaders in the Cook Islands and Niue have called for the easing of travel between NZ and their islands to enable tourism to recommence during the peak season. They say their preference is for an early return to business rather than continued reliance on aid. Tourism would also benefit the people of New Zealand as many would welcome an opportunity for safe travel to the islands after the lockdown and a cold winter.

The people of the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau are New Zealand citizens. New Zealand has constitutional obligations to these island nations, including the health and wellbeing of its citizens. New Zealand is home to more than 400,000 people of Pacific descent. Auckland is the preferred referral centre for specialised medical care and source of medicines and other needs. Early and prompt interventions in the islands can prevent serious medical problems from progressing.

New Zealand has a long-standing Treaty of Friendship with Samoa. Tonga and Fiji have strong historical relationships with New Zealand and there are firm people-to-people links. We are family, whānau, ohana – and family look out for each other. Pacific families in New Zealand and the islands have had no contact for several weeks and many would welcome restoration of travel so that families can reunite once again. The Pacific communities in New Zealand are a unique part of our nation.

Jacinda Ardern’s government has done a tremendous job protecting these islands from Covid-19 through pre-departure measures and financial support through regional organisations. It has recently adopted an important policy position to ensure that the Pacific Islands are not disadvantaged when a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available. These commitments have consolidated the New Zealand government’s leadership role both here and in the islands. It is time to continue that leadership by supporting a New Zealand / Pacific quarantine-free travel zone – getting started, perhaps, with the Cook Islands and Niue.

To do so would be a win-win solution for New Zealand and the islands.

Down in the polls and facing the risk of oblivion, New Zealand First has had a very busy Friday. Justin Giovannetti looks at the start of an NZ First electoral strategy focused on being tough.

There’s no surer sign that it’s election time than the blitz of news coming out of New Zealand First.

With 99 days to go to the election, the party announced a bill that would require police to immediately remove any future iwi checkpoints. An email from the party torpedoing Labour’s light rail plans in Auckland was made public. And finally (catch your breath), leader Winston Peters let rip, expressing “disgust” at a “wave of wokeism” following the removal of a colonial statue in Hamilton.

A number of recent polls show NZ First is in trouble and will struggle to enter parliament unless it can quickly turn things around.

Earlier this week the party’s leader and main lieutenant Shane Jones were in Northland making a number of funding announcements as government ministers. Jones had just announced he would be running for the Northland electorate – where victory could be a lifeline for the party should it fall under the 5% threshold. On Friday, NZ First decided to remind supporters how they much differ from Labour.

At the end of next week the government will be entering caretaker mode. With governing about to be put on pause, any legislation introduced in the coming days has little chance of becoming a law. Instead, it’s all about firing up the party base and creating publicity before voting begins in the weeks before September 19.

Darroch Ball, a list MP who sits at the back corner of NZ First’s block in parliament, will be tabling a member’s bill that would modify existing law and force police to remove the type of roadblocks that appeared during the Covid-19 crisis. Many of the checkpoints were manned by Māori groups concerned about the damage the virus could do in communities with restricted access to health care.

In a statement, Ball said the bill would protect the right to movement from “the whims of certain groups who think they know better than everyone else”. As a member’s bill, it doesn’t necessary reflect the government’s view, but member’s bills are rarely introduced without the consent of party leaders.

The construction of a light rail system in Auckland is one of the signature promises from Jacinda Ardern. The project is troubled, with no sign from the government on when construction will begin, what it’ll look like and who will build it.

RNZ reported this morning that Peters sent an email to transport minister Phil Twyford in February in which he said the government’s coalition partner wouldn’t back a proposal to build light rail from the city centre to the airport. While Twyford’s office confirmed it received the message, it declined to provide the email’s content.

RNZ reported that it was “understood” that Peters wrote in the email that he was unhappy with the cost and scale of the proposal, as well as the involvement of a large Canadian pension fund. The fund would be part of the financing, construction and possible running of the system.

The first part of the light rail system was supposed to be constructed by next year. The government has only publicly commented that negotiations are ongoing.

The sight of a crane winching the statue of Captain John Hamilton out of the eponymous city’s main square was met by cheers locally on Friday but led to a blast of outrage from Peters later in the day. “Why do some woke New Zealanders feel the need to mimic mindless actions imported from overseas,” said Peters in a statement.

He added that a self-confident, mature country doesn’t tear down its symbols and cautioned that cenotaphs could follow, along with bulldozers into the side of any school that once used the strap. Finally, Peters warned that Wellington’s bronze statue of Gandhi might go for a swim in the harbour.

Hamilton’s statue was pulled down as part of a wave of similar actions around the world, including in the US and UK. The removals are part of ongoing protests against police brutality that have expanded into a movement against racism and historic oppression.

Peters also said calls to remove statues of Captain Cook are “disgraceful”. In a wink to his party’s base delivered with the subtlety of an atom bomb, he said that New Zealand’s woke generation needs to “deal with it, grow up and read a book”.

With less than three months until voting begins, today brought a taste of the rhetoric to come.