Stranded Australians and New Zealanders anxious about when they can return home – RNZ

People stuck on either side of the Tasman between the "two most locked-down places in the world" say they have no idea when they will be able to return home.

Passengers wearing masks arrive from New Zealand at Sydney International Airport on 16 October, 2020, during the operation of the trans-Tasman bubble. Photo: AFP / David Gray

Cancelled flights and managed isolation have stranded an unknown number of people on either side of the Tasman.

In Nelson, Australian academic Peta Wellstead has been unable to get back to Perth since the middle of last year.

The planned reopening of Western Australia's border to the rest of the world on 5 February was delayed last week by Premier Mark McGowan, who pointed to escalating health risks posed by the Omicron variant.

Wellstead has been trying to get home since she started what was supposed to be a six-week trip to New Zealand in July.

She was moving back there after a decade in New Zealand, had sold her house in Nelson and bought a new one in Perth. But she made an ill-fated trip back to tie up loose ends, sell her car, and see friends before falling ill - and then the border closed again.

Australian academic Peta Wellstead has been unable to get back to Perth from New Zealand since mid-2021. Photo: Supplied

The 64-year-old has been paying $180 a night for a serviced apartment since September, as she waited for flights to restart and an easing of restrictions.

"I have pretty much given up, as lots of New Zealanders have. I am probably going to fly to Sydney and then onto Germany to spend time with my son and his wife. I can go to Germany where I am not a citizen or a resident, but I cannot travel to my home in Perth. WA and NZ are now the only jurisdictions in the world who are locking out, and continue to lock out, their own citizens and residents."

Thousands of New Zealanders and Australians were stranded on the wrong side of the Tasman, she said.

"It's not actually even about me. I mean, I'm okay, I'm coping. I mean it's been pretty stressful and quite a lot of tears, but there are people in real hardship."

Among those is Ken Hill, aged 78, who is with his wife Jackie in Queensland. The couple, from Hokitika, have spoken of the mental anguish of being stuck away from home for eight months.

New Zealand's international border re-opening plan will allow fully-vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents in Australia to return first, followed by those based elsewhere in the world. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook

They went to see their grandchildren in Melbourne during the trans-Tasman bubble and took a holiday in Queensland, before a series of flight cancellations grounded them.

"The anxiety and depression at the moment is unbelievable," said Ken. "Mentally, I'm buggered. I am, honestly. Because you just remember things that you did in New Zealand when you were a kid and you can't get back to enjoy it.

"I just feel the government when they had the [MIQ] lobby, they should have let a few of us oldies get back in, otherwise the computer whiz kids can get in before us. It's in the lap of the Gods, I suppose. It's just you think 'well, are they really looking after New Zealanders or not?' They're not."

Anxieties include if they fall ill without Medicare and their pension - they managed to get it reinstated after it was stopped for a month, but their daughter told them a fortnight ago that more superannuation paperwork has now arrived at home, that he knows they will struggle to return without access to computers.

Cabinet will decide in two weeks the date New Zealanders stuck overseas can bypass managed isolation (MIQ) and instead isolate at home.

The re-opening plan will allow fully-vaccinated New Zealand citizens and residents in Australia to return first, followed by those based elsewhere in the world.

Tourists or migrants were due to get the green light to enter without managed isolation from the end of April, but now the MIQ website simply says "this step will be reviewed in 2022."

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Stranded Australians and New Zealanders anxious about when they can return home - RNZ