KEY POINTS
- Australia's peak tourism body wants a "seamless" trans-Tasman border to be trialled.
- It says facial recognition technology could do away with the need to present travel documents.
- The call comes ahead of a meeting between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart.
Australia's peak tourism body has urged the federal and New Zealand governments to trial border reforms that would change the way travellers enter both countries.
The Tourism and Transport Forum (TFF) wants the governments to establish a joint task force before the end of August to develop a "seamless" border that could be trialled by the end of the year.
It said reforms could include using to could do away with the need to produce boarding passes and passports, which could help reduce delays on arrival.
The Tourism and Transport Forum says the use of facial recognition technology at airports could do away with the need for Australians and New Zealanders to present their passports at the border. Source: Getty / Getty Images
“Border formalities could be slashed by linking each passenger’s travel documentation to facial recognition technology. You could identify trans-Tasman passengers as they pass 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.”
In a speech to the business group the Trans-Tasman Business Circle earlier this month, Australian Border Force commissioner Michael Outram said there was an "urgent need for border modernisation and investment because "critical IT systems" were dated and others were "still paper-based".
Osmond, who welcomed Outram's speech, said Australia was once among the countries leading the way in making border entry more efficient, having been an early adopter of smart gates at airports, and e-passports.
But "progress has stalled", Osmond said, as she pointed out that incoming travellers to Australia are still required to fill out paper arrival cards, while New Zealand has introduced a digital form.
"This should be a thing of the past in our digital age," she said.
Osmond also wants a joint trans-Tasman visitor visa trialled that she said would "make it easier for overseas tourists to visit both Australia and NZ on a single trip".
Concerns over facial recognition technology
The Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) says there are risks associated with biometric technologies like facial recognition, especially in "high-stakes decision-making situations" where identification errors can "increase human rights risks".
The AHRC recommends laws are reformed to strengthen "human rights protections regarding the development and use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition".
"Until these protections are in place, the Commission recommends a moratorium on the use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition, in high-risk areas of decision making," the AHRC says on its website.
Trans-Tasman relations
The call from the TFF comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to travel to Wellington on Wednesday to meet with his New Zealand counterpart .
It will be Albanese's first official trip to New Zealand and will mark the 40th anniversary of the free-trade agreement known as Closer Economic Relations, 50th anniversary of the trans-Tasman travel arrangement and 80th anniversary of diplomatic representation.
Albanese said in a statement last week they would discuss, among other things, trade and investment, security and defence.
In a speech at the Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum last week, Hipkins described the Australia-New Zealand trade deal as the gold standard and a cornerstone of the relationship.
But he said further work would be needed to ensure people and goods could continue to move freely across the Tasman.
"Regulatory alignment is essential for reducing friction and enabling our businesses to do what they do best," he told the Forum.
New Zealand is Australia's top international tourism market. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's most recent international visitor survey showed that Kiwis made 827,000 trips in the year to March.
- With the Australian Associated Press.
