Carey's 98 drags Australia home in NZ Test thriller
An unbeaten 98 from Alex Carey dragged Australia to victory over New Zealand by three wickets in a thrilling second Test on Monday to give the tourists a 2-0 sweep of the two-match series. Carey and Mitchell Mars
New Zealand and England were the major winners from a game neither of them took part in at the Twenty20 World Cup on Friday as Australia ended up beating Afghanistan by only four runs.
By a Staff Reporter Australia have benched former skipper Steve Smith for their first match against New Zealand in the ICC T20 World Cup on Saturday. Australian skipper Aaron Finch won the toss and chose to field first. Finch will open with David Warner for the Aussies. Australia have opted to play with Mitchell Marsh, […]
AUG 2: Immigration authorities will now begin accepting visitors with visas and those on student visas again.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called it an "enormous moment", adding it was part of a "cautious process".
Most visitors will still need to be fully vaccinated, but there are no quarantine requirements.
The country's maritime border has also reopened, with cruise ships and foreign recreational yachts now allowed to dock.
New Zealand first announced a phased reopening plan in February. It allowed vaccinated citizens to return from Australia that month, and those coming from elsewhere to return in March.
In May, it started welcoming tourists from more than 50 countries on a visa-waiver list.
"We, alongside the rest of the world, continue to manage a very live global pandemic, while keeping our people safe," said Ms Ardern in a speech at the China Business Summit in Auckland on Monday.
"But keeping people safe extends to incomes and wellbeing too."
Tourism was one of the industries hardest hit by New Zealand's tough Covid measures.
In the year ending March 2021, the industry's contribution to the GDP dropped to 2.9%, from 5.5% the year before.
International tourism took an especially big hit, plunging 91.5% - or NZ$16.2bn ($10.2bn; £8.4bn) - to NZ$1.5bn, according to official data.
The number of people directly employed in tourism also fell by over 72,000 during this period.
