New Zealand travellers burst Australia's travel bubble
Travellers arriving as part of the newly minted international arrangements with New Zealand have left state authorities scrambling after taking internal flights to jurisdictions outside of the travel bubble.
Under the original arrangements, passengers from New Zealand were permitted to enter New South Wales and the Northern Territory.
But on Friday night, it was revealed that a few trans-Tasman arrivals took connecting flights to Melbourne.
Authorities in Victoria have now spoken to all 55 people who were gearing up to arrive in the state to explain local coronavirus rules.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) released a statement saying some of the travellers were in family groups, with most of them staying in private homes.
Three of the travellers expected to enter the state remained in NSW.
And one who was in Victoria returned to NSW on Sunday.
"Twenty-one of the 55 travellers arrived at Melbourne Airport … the remainder arrived using other modes of transport," the statement said.
"DHHS authorised officers continue to meet incoming flights at Melbourne Airport and provide information to arriving passengers."
Authorities in West Australia have also confirmed 23 people, including a child, all from New Zealand, are currently in hotel or home quarantine after flying into Perth overnight.
WA has a hard border and Premier Mark McGowan said the Federal Government needed to provide more support.
"We would like further assistance from the Commonwealth, in particular, about making sure that those people who come on aircraft into WA that we get proper manifests and proper advice as to those people that are coming so we can deal with these situations," he said.
Unlike Western Australia, Victoria does not have restrictions on incoming arrivals, but Premier Daniel Andrews has issued criticism over the way events unfolded.
He said his government had repeatedly requested to be excluded from the arrangement.
"We were asked, 'Do you want to be in the bubble?' and we said no," Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday, as he announced easing of restrictions in the state.