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Patti Newton says her husband made a brave choice to live by deciding to get his leg amputated in his latest health battle.

Australian television legend Bert Newton had the emergency operation on Saturday after he developed an infection in his toe, entertainment reporter Peter Ford told 2GB radio host Ben Fordham.

Speaking to reporters outside her home and at the hospital, Mrs Newton said her 82-year-old husband was faced with a choice – and he chose to live so he could watch his grandchildren grow up.

"He got through the operation, it was huge," she said.

LIVE UPDATES: Confirmation COVID-19 is airborne

"It was a very big day for everybody. It was needed and he had a choice and his choice was to live.

"He had to go through all this and he has the support of all his family.

"We have gathered around him a lot and it's mainly for the grandchildren because he wants to watch them grow."

Mrs Newton said he had a "big journey" ahead of him, but he was a "very strong man".

"He's in really good spirits," she said.

"He's got a big journey ahead of him, as we all have.

"But you know Bert, onward and upward. I'm sure he will be fine, we are hoping anyway.

"It's early days, so we just have to take it a day at a time."

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The 82-year-old entertainment icon, who is diabetic, has suffered numerous health issues after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2012.

Newton has also suffered through several bouts of pneumonia over the last few years.

"I am super proud of him, mainly because a lot of people wouldn't have chosen to do this," Mrs Newton said.

"His words were: let's do this with a positive attitude and not a negative attitude.

"We have been together for over 50 years, so I am not going to leave him now.

"He keeps saying, 'you will hang around won't you?' And I say, 'yes I will'."

Mrs Newton said the family would face his latest health battle with a "bit of a laugh".

"I think probably the first thing is to heal and then when you heal you start learning to cope and to move around," she said.

She will have to make arrangements as they live in a double-story Melbourne townhouse, Mrs Newton added.

Mrs Newton is also in a moon boot herself after breaking her ankle in two places.

She has been touched by the steady stream of messages she has received from well-wishers, sending their love and support.

Ford described the situation as a "life or death decision" and said Newton's family are determined not to present the situation as a "sad story".

"The way they see it, Bert had a choice. He wants to stick around, he loves his wife, his kids, his grandkids he just adores, so he wants to be around for as long as possible to enjoy that," Ford said.

"But life's going to be quite different from now on."

https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/bert-newton-has-leg-amputated-after-sobering-ultim/embed

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The hidden rule that lets heavy vehicles take up more than one lane.

Vaccine passports enabling Australians to travel overseas are not a matter of 'if' but 'when', leading industry experts say.

As the country's coronavirus vaccine rollout ramps up to more than two million doses, the door to international travel edges a little closer to reopening.

With countries and continents like Europe, UK and Canada flagging their intention to introduce a digital vaccine passport system, experts say Australia is not far from doing the same.

READ MORE: Government 'banking' on international travel resuming in 2022

Melbourne entrepreneur Michael Maher, the CEO and co-founder of electronic passport platform OnePassport, is currently in discussions with federal and state governments about using his app for vaccine passports.

OnePassport is an electronic immunisation register that is able to record various vaccine and virus test results.

Vaccinations can be verified through the app, with the individual being able to scan the batch details upon immunisation.

Mr Maher recently submitted briefs to the offices of Trade Minister Dan Tehan and Education Minister Alan Tudge as governments actively consider options for rolling out a digital vaccine passport.

He believes vaccine passports are the way of the future.

"I believe this is the new reality," Mr Maher told 9News.com.au.

"I don't believe [vaccines] will be made mandatory, but I do think it will be required to travel internationally."

READ MORE: Next stage of Australia's COVID-19 vaccine rollout begins

READ MORE: Victoria doubles vaccine jabs after hubs inundated

Once international travel resumes, Mr Maher said it's likely testing negative to COVID-19 before boarding overseas flights will be the first measure introduced.

"A recent negative test result will likely be first for international travel … one before you fly, one before you arrive," he said.

Air New Zealand became one of the first airlines to trial using a type of vaccine passport, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) app.

Qantas has been trialling a number of digital passport apps, which stores information about passenger test results and immunisations, in the hopes new technology will be able to revive international travel.

"We are expecting that it will be a digital solution," Qantas chief customer officer Steph Tully said at a recent event.

"So we have been working on vaccination-type passports, not just for vaccination, but even for testing, depending on what the requirements are.

"We've been trialling a couple of the apps including the IATA app."

READ MORE: Australia in talks with French biotech firm over new COVID-19 vaccine

Prime Minister Scott Morrison last week said he was open to the idea of "vaccine passports" to allow people to travel more freely.

He said the topic was something his medical expert panel was "working on right now".

"I think that is the next step, but I do think that next step is some way away," Mr Morrison told 3AW.

"If you're fully vaccinated, that you would be able to travel, certainly around Australia, but maybe overseas, without the need for hotel quarantine."

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce reiterated that COVID-19 vaccines would likely be required in order for Australians to travel overseas.

"We believe that most governments are going to require this," he said at an event.

"I think Iceland now is putting into place a requirement that if you get vaccinated you don't have to quarantine.

"The Israelis are talking to the people in Cyprus and they'll let you go travelling quarantine-free if you're vaccinated.

"So we know this has already happening around the globe, and it's the likelihood when we look at the Australian market."

A poll of Qantas frequent flyers showed 89 per cent supported mandatory vaccines.

"We think that to be without quarantine there'll have to be vaccinations," Mr Joyce added.

The EU intends to implement a 'Digital Green Pass' by the end of June.

This would be a health certificate that allows EU citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel safely around the continent.

It would also allow those who have tested negative or recently recovered from the virus to move around freely.

The British government is also working with counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Ireland to establish a vaccine passport.

Canada has indicated it may introduce a vaccine passport scheme to allow citizens to travel internationally.

The US has not mandated a vaccine passport for travel into the country, however various businesses, including more than 60 stadiums and venues, have deployed an app to verify people's COVID-19 status.

Major League Baseball teams San Francisco Giants and New York Mets were among the first to demand crowds to prove they tested negative to COVID-19 or have been vaccinated against it.

Mr Maher said the "technology exists" for Australian stadiums and venues to roll out something similar to verify crowds at events and sporting games.

"It almost combines the immunisation passport and the QR code system," he said.

In terms of the next step to roll out a vaccine passport, Mr Maher said it was about working with both state and federal governments to agree on a solution.

"It's trying to get multiple parties on the same page which is one of the challenges," he said.

"The NSW Government is probably at the tipping point of doing it.

"It all comes down to government."

Travel between Australia and other countries could resume this year, with experts predicting coronavirus may be treated like a simple cold.

It comes as flights between NSW and New Zealand resume today after two positive COVID-19 cases in Sydney suspended travel between the two locations.

Infectious disease expert, Professor Robert Booy, told Today he believes more travel bubbles will open between Australia and other countries in the coming months.

READ MORE: Another week of COVID-19 restrictions as authorities hunt 'missing link'

"I think we'll have bubbles before then," Professor Booy told Today, in response to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg indicating international borders will reopen next year.

"We have New Zealand, we'll have many more Pacific islands – we'll have more places, perhaps in Asia as they totally clamp down and have high vaccination rates as well.

He said one country after the other would say yes if all agreed they had good control of the virus.

"We'll get to a point where this virus is more like a cold – that too will help us open up," he said.

Eleven flights are scheduled to depart Sydney for New Zealand today, after the trans-Tasman bubble reopened at midnight.

While the news is welcomed by NSW residents eager to see family or holiday in New Zealand after lockdown, there is a catch.

The travel bubble is still not available to anyone who visited one of the recent NSW exposure sites.

Anyone who has potentially been exposed to the virus as a close or casual contact attached to one of those locations will be turned away at the border.

Since the two positive NSW cases were identified last week, no new local cases have been identified, giving authorities hope they have the situation under control.

Restrictions for NSW have also been eased, with masks no longer required in public indoor locations.

READ MORE: Long-awaited vaccine hub to open in Sydney in bid to double jab rate

New Zealand authorities say they haven't ruled out another pause of the travel bubble if new local Australian cases develop.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealand would monitor the situation "very closely".

"We'll continue to monitor it, and obviously we'll make decisions where we need to," Mr Hipkins said.