The prime minister is still refusing to commit to a timeline on any trans-Tasman travel bubble, but says work is still underway.
Photo: RNZ / Sam Rillstone
From tomorrow, New Zealanders will be able to fly directly to Queensland as the state loosens its borders.
Jacinda Ardern said officials were still working through allowing Australians to come here without 14 days in managed isolation.
"We are working hard on it, it will make a big difference for New Zealand, not just economically, but there are such close social connections," she said.
But she is refusing to say whether or not this would be in place before Christmas.
"I've never put timelines on it because of course timelines, people book their lives around it, they make plans so I want to make sure that whenever we do give that indication it will have the certainty of firm dates attached," she said.
Ardern said Australia's state-by-state approach had made it more complicated to plan for an outbreak.
"So that means that New Zealand would have to navigate whether or not we would close our border in an outbreak, dependent on how other states react.
"We want to make sure all of those protocols, what we do in the case of an outbreak are predetermined, before we start travel so we're well prepared."
Ardern said she was optimistic, but would not comment on speculation it could be in place by February.
"I know people want to restart that travel but we want to do it safely. I don't want to take any risks that jeopardise the freedoms we have, but I am hopeful that some time in the near future we'll be able to give some more certainty around when the opening will happen."