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Australia-Singapore travel bubble could be live in months

Australians could have access to a three-way travel bubble with Singapore and New Zealand by the middle of the year, with Fiji also keen to join.

Speaking on Today, Minister for Trade and Tourism Dan Tehan said he would be involved in key discussions with Singapore counterparts in the coming months.

Other Pacific nations, such as Fiji, could potentially be brought into the mix.

Qantas planes taxi on the runway at Sydney Airport.

READ MORE: What needs to happen for international travel to resume

Mr Tehan said nations agreeing on a digital coronavirus vaccination travel passport, particularly how it was logistically deployed and managed at borders, was pivotal to the arrangement.

"One of the keys is making sure that we can get that vaccine passport validated," Mr Tehan said.

"That will enable that two-way travel to occur, hopefully without quarantining down the track."

"What we need to do is get people moving again [and with] the confidence to travel."

Singaporean authorities were known to be "interested" in joining and expanding the Trans-Tasman bubble.

Mr Tehan said he was "optimistic that we might be able to get something up and running by the middle of the year."

READ MORE: How to get your half-price flight and what destinations will count

Singapore was progressing well with its vaccine roll-out, Mr Tehan said, as was Australia.

Australia has had a travel bubble with New Zealand since the end of the year, although coronavirus flare ups have seen it paused at various times.

However, the Trans-Tasman bubble is not an even two-way street.

New Zealanders can travel freely into most Australian states, but Australians must quarantine for two weeks across the ditch.

Met Police chief will not resign over Sarah Everard vigil scenes

Large crowds swarmed inside Parliament Square in London last night as calls for the Met Police chief to resign grow over the force's handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard.

The crowd, numbering more than a thousand people, called for the resignation of Met commissioner Cressida Dick and the scrapping of the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill.

On Saturday (local time), Met police officers drew criticism for handcuffing women and removing them from crowds on Clapham Common.

READ MORE: UK policeman charged with Sarah Everard's murder

A serving Metropolitan Police officer has been charged with the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, who went missing over a week ago from south London.Police take measures as mourners for the life of murdered 33-year-old Sarah Everard, whose remains were found this week, take part in a demonstration outside New Scotland Yard in London

Thousands gathered throughout the day on Clapham Common, and the police were accused by some of heavy-handed action.

Dame Dick today declared she was not considering her position and was "determined" to keep leading the Met.

She defended how her officers had policed a "really big crowd".

READ MORE: London police tactics at vigil draw scrutiny

"Quite rightly, as far as I can see, my team felt that this is now an unlawful gathering which poses a considerable risk to people's health," she said.

"I don't think anybody who was not in the operation can actually pass a detailed comment on the rightness and wrongness… This is fiendishly difficult policing.

"What has happened makes me more determined, not less, to lead my organisation."

During Sunday night's gathering, police kept their distance from Ms Everard supporters.

A sign saying "SHE WAS JUST WALKING HOME 97%" is seen among the flowers and candles on Clapham Common where floral tributes have been placed for Sarah Everard in London.

People observed a minute's silence was in memory of Ms Everard, 33, whose body was found in woodland in Kent.

A serving Met officer has been charged with her murder.

The names of women killed by their partners, or those who have died in UK prisons, were also read out during the vigil.

The police, crime, sentencing and courts bill was also a focal point, which people chanted their opposition.

The bill is set to be debated in parliament tomorrow with critics worried it will grant greater powers to limit the right to protest.

Ms Everard disappeared while walking home from a friend's apartment at about 10.30pm and was found dead a week later.

The slaying sent shockwaves across the UK because a Metropolitan Police officer is charged with her kidnapping and murder.