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
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.
JUNE 28: The population grew to 25.5 million in the 2021 survey - up 2.1 million from 2016 - and average incomes were slightly higher.
The census also revealed trends that will help shape the country's future. Here are five.
Australia is becoming less religious
For the first time, fewer than half of Australians (44%) identify as Christian, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. Just over 50 years ago, the proportion was about 90%.
Although Christianity remains the biggest religion, it is closely followed by those with no religion at all. That cohort has increased to 39%, up by almost 9%.
Hinduism and Islam are the fastest growing religions in Australia, but each are followed by only around 3% of the population.
But it's also becoming more diverse
Modern Australia has been built on immigration. And now - in another first - more than half of people were born overseas or have a parent who was.
Migration has slowed during the pandemic, but more than a million people have moved to Australia since 2016. Of those, almost a quarter were from India.
India has overtaken China and New Zealand to become the third-largest country of birth, behind Australia and England.
One in five people speak a language other than English at home - most commonly Chinese or Arabic - an increase of almost 800,000 since 2016.
The Indigenous population is larger
The number of people who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jumped by a quarter from the last census.
Births contributed to the growth but people are also becoming more comfortable with identifying themselves as Indigenous, the ABS says.
Indigenous Australians now number 812,728 - about 3.2% of the population.
he data shows there are 167 active Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander languages, spoken by more than 78,000 people across Australia.
Estimates of Indigenous population size before Europeans arrived in 1788 range from 315,000 to more than one million people. It sharply declined from that point due to new diseases, violence, displacement and dispossession.
Millennials now have the numbers
Another key finding is that Australia is on the cusp of a significant generational shift.
Baby Boomers - those born between 1946 and 1965 - have previously been the country's largest generation. Now Millennials - born between 1981 and 1995 - have caught up.
Each generation accounts for 21.5% of the population.
That's likely to hugely inform policies on issues such as housing and aged care, experts say.
Home ownership is stagnant, but caravans are increasingly popular
A similar share of Australians to 25 years ago are buying houses, but fewer are paying them off.
The number of people with a mortgage has doubled since 1996, with property prices skyrocketing since.
Australian cities now rank among the worst globally for housing affordability, according to a 2022 report.
But the census also revealed that more people are turning to alternative dwellings - something likely spurred on by the pandemic.
The number of caravans - popular with domestic tourists - jumped by 150%. Australians now own 60,000 caravans and almost 30,000 houseboats.
New Zealand, Jan 5: Records tumbled in Tauranga as Bangladesh dominated day five, claiming 12 vital World Test Championship points.
Bangladesh have completed arguably their finest ever Test win, defeating reigning World Test champions New Zealand at the Bay Oval, breaking the hosts' 17-match unbeaten streak at home.
Finishing with a second innings spell of 6/46, Ebadot Hossain was adjudged Player of the Match, as the tourists chased down a target of 40.
With a bowling average of 81.54 from 10 Tests coming into the match, Ebadot realized his potential in a rampage across the final two days, finishing with seven wickets for the match. Taskin Ahmed joined Ebadot in to bundle the hosts out for just 169 early in the day, finishing with 3/36.
New Zealand's batters had no answer for Bangladesh's canny reverse swing, with Ross Taylor (40), playing his final Test at the venue, providing the only resistance.
As Ebadot beat Taylor's defenses to send New Zealand spiraling at 154/6, the hosts crumbled to be bowled out for just 169. Rachin Ravindra (16) was surrounded by four players to be dismissed for a duck. Bangladesh's bowlers were backed by a clinical fielding effort, as Shoriful Islam and sub-fielder Taijul Islam took stunning catches to all but seal Bangladesh's win - their first away Test win over a top-five ranked team and just their sixth victory abroad from 61 attempts.
Bangladesh made easy work of the 40 required in 16.5 overs to seal a historic win, in spite of Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah.
Bangladesh had not previously won any of their 43 matches in New Zealand across all three formats, while the result also ends the Kiwis' eight-series home win streak that stretched back to 2017.
Records broken by Bangladesh
> First win against New Zealand in New Zealand (in any format)
> First Test win over New Zealand (16th attempt)
> First Test win over a top-five ICC-ranked team away from home
> 6th win away from in 61 Tests
> Ended New Zealand's eight-series winning run on home soil (2017-present)
> Ended New Zealand's 17-match unbeaten run in home tests
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, April 3: About 100,000 tourists stuck in New Zealand since it began a lockdown last week were starting to fly to their home countries Friday.
WELLINGTON, Feb 22: Captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor combined to put New Zealand in a strong position in the first test before India struck back late on Saturday to remove both just as their partnership threatened to take the match away from the tourists.
WELLINGTON, Feb 21: The final session of the first day’s play in the opening test between New Zealand and India at the Basin Reserve was washed out by heavy rain on Friday, giving the tourists time to regroup after they were reduced to 122-5 at tea.
WELLINGTON, Jan 24: Shreyas Iyer guided India to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first Twenty20 international at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday as the tourists showed few signs of fatigue or jet lag.
