4. Question No. 4—FinanceANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 4—Finance4. ANDREW BAYLY (National—Port Waikato) to the Minister of Finance: Has he asked Treasury for advice on the economic cost to New Zealand of not opening a trans-Tasman travel bubble; if so what is the estimated cost per day?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): The Government continues to do the work required to open a safe travel zone with Australia so that it is in the best interests of New Zealanders and where the appropriate protocols and safeguards are in place. Not being of a negative mind-set I have not asked for advice about not opening the trans-Tasman bubble. I have previously asked for advice about the economic impact of trans-Tasman travel settings as both countries take measures to protect their citizens from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The member can read about this himself in the 26 June 2020 weekly economic update that has been published on Treasury's website. In answer to the second part of the question that information does not give a per-day cost or benefit which is understandable given the significant uncertainties about what the scale of travel between the two countries would be in the current environment.Andrew Bayly: Why is his Government dragging its heels on the trans-Tasman bubble at great cost to the New Zealand economy when public health expert Michael Baker has said Australians pose incredibly low COVID-19 risk?SPEAKER: Oh—Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In answer to the first part—oh sorry.SPEAKER: I mean I will let the member answer it but I am being quite generous because it does not relate to the primary question.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: With respect to the first part of the question I completely disagree with the member's premise. What we're doing on this side of the House is acting in the interests of New Zealanders to make sure that arrangements we make have the proper protocols and safeguards in place.Andrew Bayly: How many jobs would be saved by opening the trans-Tasman bubble immediately in places like Rotorua Taupō Queenstown and the West Coast?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In order to be able to answer that very very specific question we would need to know a lot about the behaviour of Australians and I would note for the member's benefit that for an Australian to travel to New Zealand right now they require an exit visa and so what we would have to know is just how many Australians would be prepared to go through the rigmarole of that; in return in terms of the net benefit to New Zealand how many New Zealanders would go to Australia. These are matters that are very difficult to quantify. Our premise is a principled one: that we will do this in the interests of New Zealanders and making sure that we have the right safeguards in place.Andrew Bayly: What is his response to businesses who are desperate for workers right now and are calling for the freeing up of the 40 percent of the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) spaces currently taken up by people arriving from Australia? [Interruption]SPEAKER: Well it's about as related as two back so I'll let it go.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: The member needs to think carefully through what he's saying there and in fact if he wants to quote Michael Baker as he did earlier he could look at one of Michael Baker's statements earlier today which is that when those spaces are freed up in MIQ when we do get ourselves to a safe travel zone we will have higher-risk travellers who will be in New Zealand at that point and Mr Baker is actually concerned about the availability of space at that point.Andrew Bayly: What regions are expected to suffer the highest economic cost due to the lack of a trans-Tasman bubble?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We're well aware on this side of the House that there are certain regions of New Zealand who have been affected more in terms of the loss of international tourism and the member will be well aware of which regions those are—the likes of Queenstown and Westland and elsewhere. We are working actively with those regions on plans to support them on top of the $400 million that has gone into support the tourism sector the $1.8 billion of wage subsidy funding that went into support the tourism sector—amounts of money I might say that are significantly larger than what I heard being offered by the other side of the House during the election.David Seymour: Will the higher-risk travellers the Minister just referred to include Nala and Simba?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: I'm pleased that the member has spent his time learning the names of the characters of the Lion King. What I would say to the member is that throughout the period of COVID-19 we have prioritised the return of New Zealanders to their home country; where possible we have made available spaces for those who are playing significant roles in the economy; and we've made space for cultural and sporting events because that is part of making sure that New Zealanders have actually been able to enjoy some time over the last few months.Hon Chris Hipkins: Could the tourism regions of New Zealand end up worse off if restrictions preventing New Zealanders travelling to Australia are removed whilst Australia continues to maintain the requirement for Australians travelling to New Zealand to have exit visas?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That's absolutely a good point and comes back to my primary answer to the member: this is a two-way street and if Australians still require an exit visa we could end up with a net loss to New Zealand.