New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has postponed a visit to Australia next month due to the worsening COVID environment.
Ms Ardern was to visit a number of states - including NSW - in the first week of July on a trade and tourism effort.
A spokeswoman for the Kiwi PM said the trip was being deferred until later in 2021 "to provide maximum value for everyone involved".
Ms Ardern has not left New Zealand since the onset of COVID-19.
Her most recent overseas trip was to Fiji and NSW in February last year; she announced New Zealand's first case of COVID-19 an hour before boarding the plane to come home.
Australian PM Scott Morrison visited Ms Ardern in Queenstown earlier this month for annual leaders' talks.
On Friday, NSW health officials announced 22 new cases of COVID-19 in Sydney, prompting a lockdown in parts of Australia's biggest city.
In response to the new community cases, New Zealand officials have already closed the trans-Tasman bubble to NSW until July 7 at the earliest.
