New Zealand Internal Affairs, TIA Support Passport-Free Trans-Tasman Travel For Australians And Kiwis

New Zealand Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has called on Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to allow New Zealanders and Australians to cross the Tasman without passports. He invoked the spirit of ANZAC Day and described the trans-Tasman relationship as something like that of a “distant cousin.”

In a statement released before the official commemoration of ANZAC begins, Dunne said since New Zealand rejected the invitation to join the Commonwealth of Australia at the time of its federation in 1901, there have been attempts to revive the relationship. The United Future party leader believes Australians and New Zealanders are similar and “genuinely like each other” despite the rivalries.

In the spirit of ANZAC, he wanted to mark the occasion by reinvigorating the relationship between the two countries, reports Sky News. “A practical starting point would be to allow our respective citizens free movement across our borders, without the need for a passport, as is increasingly the case in Europe,” said Dunne.

The Tourism Industry Association supports the idea of passport-free travel for Kiwis and Australians. In a statement on April 23, TIA Chief Executive Chris Roberts said waiving passports for citizens of the two countries would boost travel for both ways.

“We support Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne’s call today for passport-free travel between the ANZAC partners,” said Roberts. He remarked that Australia is currently New Zealand’s biggest market for tourism, with 1.27 million arrivals for the year ending in March 2015. TIA believes reducing the barriers to travel would increase demand and encourage more people from Australia to visit New Zealand as a holiday destination.

Roberts said about 1.1 million New Zealanders visited Australia in the same period. The scrapping of passports would strengthen the bond of Australia and New Zealand currently hindered by the lack of travel freedom.

In a joint research earlier in the year, TIA and Australia Tourism & Transport Forum revealed more sports fans were willing to cross the Tasman to watch big events if travel was faster and cheaper. Roberts explained that getting off a trans-Tasman fight should feel like a domestic one. He said New Zealand and Australia are “out of step” with EU nations that offer passport-free travel to about 26 countries.

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