8. Question No. 8—COVID-19 ResponseCHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 ResponseQuestion No. 8—COVID-19 Response8. CHRIS BISHOP (National) to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Will the Australian travel bubble that was agreed by Cabinet in principle and announced on 14 December 2020 be up and running by the end of the first quarter; if not why not?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister for COVID-19 Response): In answer to the first part of the question the timing around the opening of the travel bubble is a dynamic thing and I cannot guarantee it will be open by the end of the month. In answer to the second part of the question common agreement on both sides of the Tasman about how why and when the safe travel zone could be suspended and the implications of that has not been agreed.Chris Bishop: On what date can New Zealanders expect the implementation of a travel bubble with Australia?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I haven't got a specific date for that. We will do that when we are in a position to do that.Chris Bishop: What are the remaining areas of disagreement between the Australian Federal Government and New Zealand that are holding up the bubble? [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! I am going to give the Opposition a further supplementary. People mustn't interject no matter how provocative the questions are. Chris Hipkins will answer it.Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: The member clearly didn't listen to the answer given to the other Leader of the Opposition" a few moments ago when the Prime Minister I think was very clear that one of the big shifts has been that we haven't been able to reach a common understanding for a joint decision-making framework and therefore we have to plan based on more of a unilateral decision-making framework when it comes to suspension of the safe travel zone—a decision that could impact between 8000 to 13000 New Zealanders a day if travel returns to the level that it was before COVID-19.Chris Bishop: When was the issue that he's just referred to of New Zealanders potentially being stranded in Australia if a border was to close first identified as an issue in the talks and what progress has been made to resolve it?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: As I have already indicated as a matter of public record New Zealand and Australia were negotiating to a joint decision-making framework. It was the Australians who have indicated that that is not the way they wish to proceed and therefore we are having to recalibrate our response accordingly.Chris Bishop: Why doesn't New Zealand then—given the failure of the joint decision-making framework and the move by Australia to a unilateral framework why doesn't New Zealand then just do something unilaterally and open the borders to Australians?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: There are still some issues to work through including the fact that when we remove quarantine at our end there will be a massive increase in the number of people travelling across the Tasman every single day and we have to be in a position to provide some certainty about what will happen for those people in the event that the safe travel zone is suspended. It could well mean we have tens of thousands of people unable to travel home and we need to be clear about what will happen in those circumstances.Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern: Can the Minister confirm that despite the fact some of the positions of our counterparts in these talks have changed it has been a completely amicable set of discussions and that ultimately we totally accept on both sides that we'll make our own decisions based on our own strategies and public health plans?Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Yes I can confirm that the conversations have been amicable full of goodwill and very constructive in fact. I can also confirm that different states in Australia are making different decisions about how to approach a safe travel zone with New Zealand and presently only two Australian states are offering quarantine-free travel from New Zealanders arriving in Australia."