It is likely New Zealand will escalate straight to a "short, sharp" level four lockdown should any new community cases of Covid-19 emerge.
Chris Hipkins issued the stark warning on Wednesday afternoon, at about the same time Sydney announced another 344 community cases in its runaway Delta cluster - plus two more deaths over night.
Earlier, our government's own Covid-19 health advisory group warned that New Zealand is likely to experience an outbreak similar to the New South Wales one at some point in the coming months.
It is also entirely possible the highly contagious Delta strain may be displaced by an even more transmissible variant by the end of 2021.
With one eye on the outbreak across the ditch and the gloomy outlook from his own advisers.
Minister Hipkins warned "this is not over" and "everyone should have a plan".
He talks to Lisa Owen.
