Life in the fast lane: Push to ditch old systems to cut transtasman airport queues

An Australian tourism group wants rule changes and new technology introduced to make transtasman travelling quicker and easier.

Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) chief executive Margy Osmond said the tourism, aviation and broader business communities see the upgrade of border processing systems as a major, necessary reform, and consider the transtasman border the logical place to start.

Crossing the Tasman is critically important for both countries’ trade and tourism. New Zealanders made up about 19 per cent of total short-term visitor arrivals into Australia of 512,000 in May and Australians made up close to 40 per cent of visitors coming into this country during the same month.

Osmond said there was a need for a more seamless border.

“We need a working group established before the end of August and we’d like to see a trial or pilot program in place by the end of the year,” she said.

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She called for Australia and New Zealand to establish a joint taskforce, made up of industry experts and government departments from both countries, to help lead progress on a seamless border.

There is some progress in easing rules around travel into Aotearoa.

A digital arrival card (New Zealand Traveller Declaration – NZTD) is being introduced for travellers entering New Zealand this month, alongside the existing paper arrival card. Arrivals into Christchurch and Wellington airports will be the first to use the NZTD. Other ports will follow, with Auckland Airport planned to start from late next month.

Osmond said the transtasman border should be a a test bed to trial more efficient entry and screening technologies to process incoming passengers.

These border reforms could include granting immigration ‘pre-clearance’ at the point of departure or leveraging the latest screening technology to drastically reduce the time spent in queues, while improving border security.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for tourists, business travellers and cargo to come to Australia, by ensuring they aren’t facing unnecessary delays on arrival. The smartest way to speed up passenger movement through our terminals is to remove people from queues who don’t need to be there.”

Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) chief executive Margy Osmond. Photo / Supplied

Border formalities could be slashed by linking each passenger’s travel documentation to facial recognition technology. Transtasman passengers could be identified as they passed various points between baggage check-in and boarding their aircraft, without them needing to stop or produce passports, travel documents or even boarding passes.

“When passengers drop off their bags before their flight, you could use facial recognition technology along with a digital arrivals card, which they would have already submitted, to assess each passenger during their flight.”

These tools were already being used successfully in other countries to simplify air travel, slash travel times and boost security.

“New Zealand is currently our largest source market for international visitors. If successful on the Tasman, these reforms could form the basis of similar changes to ‘‘revolutionise’' travel from other trusted, high-volume markets.”

Australia and New Zealand could also trial a joint transtasman visitor visa - seen as a crucial in promoting dual destination tourism - as part of these changes.

She welcomed the New Zealand Government’s rollout of a digital passenger arrival card to enter New Zealand and wants Australia to do the same.

“Australia was one of the first countries to introduce smart gates and e-passports, but progress has stalled. Passengers who arrive in Australia are still being asked to fill out paper arrival cards with a biro. This should be a thing of the past in our digital age.”

Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram has emphasised the “pressing” need for border reform, noting “too many of our critical IT systems are dated and too many of our methods are as well”.

Osmond said it was sobering to discover, as the Commissioner pointed out, that Australia plunged from 25th to 106th in the World Bank’s ‘trading across border’ rankings between 2010 and 2020.

She said the tourism sector fully supported the ABF Commissioner’s push to improve the system and is keen to work with government agencies on both sides of the Tasman to see this progressed as soon as possible.

Her comments follow her discussions last week with business and political leaders in Wellington at the annual Australia and New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF), which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, and 40th anniversary of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) trade agreement.

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Tomorrow, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit Wellington to meet Prime Minister Chris Hipkins during a two-day round of meetings.

Osmond said she was disappointed a joint visa was not established in time for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, given the tourism sector called for this more than 12 months ago.

“The FIFA Women’s World Cup would have been the perfect opportunity to establish this visa, but we shouldn’t give up on this reform. It would make it easier for overseas tourists to visit both Australia and NZ on a single trip, encouraging more tourism to our region.’'