Easier trans-Tasman travel

Trans-Tasman travel is about to get easier, but passport-free visits are unlikely.

Travellers between New Zealand and Australia will be able to use electronic passport control and bypass queues for baggage screening from the end of this year, under changes to New Zealand airport arrangements announced by Prime Minister John Key in Canberra yesterday.

Electronic-passport kiosks, called smart gates, will be installed at Auckland International Airport's arrival hall in December and in Wellington and Christchurch from the middle of next year.

The kiosks will be available to departing passengers in Auckland from late next year and in Wellington and Christchurch by mid-2011.

They allow travellers aged over 18 with an electronic passport containing a biometric chip to be able to scan their own passports and use facial-biometric technology to identify themselves and go to departure gates without going through immigration control.

Most New Zealand and Australian passengers arriving in New Zealand will no longer automatically have their baggage screened under changes announced by the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

All travellers arriving in New Zealand have had their luggage screened since 2001, when the government ordered 100 per cent X-raying in response to a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Britain.

Instead, all travellers will be risk-profiled, with only some singled out for screening and others allowed through a new fast lane.

Most of yesterday's announcements are an adoption of Australia's system, rather than any move to adopt a common border or domestic-style air travel between New Zealand and Australia.

It is understood Mr Key was keen for faster progress toward passport-free travel, but Australian officials blocked the move.

Mr Key agreed to the installation of Australian-made smart gates rather than introducing New Zealand-made technology in a bid to speed up the introduction of the changes.

He said an open border between the two countries remained the ultimate goal, but the Government had wanted something it could deliver to the public immediately.

"As an interim measure it will work very well. Whether we can ultimately get to a seamless border, there are a lot of hoops we will have to go through."

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was lukewarm on the proposal for passport-free travel.

"This will be a steady process over time," he said. "It is important for us all to cross each hurdle one step at a time."

He rejected suggestions that Australia was concerned about the use of New Zealand as a back-door entry to Australia.

Australian officials "had no concerns that I've been appraised of" about the robustness of New Zealand's border controls.