David Seymour
Wellington, October 24, 2021
The banner at FedEx Field in Washington DC where the All Blacks are playing against the US today (October 24, 2021).
(Picture Supplied by ACT Party)
The ACT Party sympathises with and endorses a banner seen at today’s All Blacks game, MIQ does suck and we should let them come home.
An All Blacks game is usually a chance to promote New Zealand on the world stage.
Today, the world has seen that we are treating off-shore New Zealanders with contempt.
Jacinda Ardern keeps talking about the team of five million.
We are actually a team of six million, there are a million Kiwis offshore who still call New Zealand home who have no pathway to coming back.
People want to come for many reasons. Family reunions, deaths of loved ones, the arrival of new babies, to fill jobs, and just being with family and friends. New Zealand is their home, keeping them locked out and fighting over a tiny number of MIQ spaces is cruel.
There was no mention of MIQ or self-isolation in the government’s announcement on Friday (October 22, 2021). We cannot go on like this and we cannot keep ignoring a million New Zealanders.
ACT would allow fully vaccinated people who have tested negative to self-isolate.
There are currently more than 80 people in Auckland who have Covid-19 who are isolating at home. If it is good enough for Covid-positive people, it should be good enough for low-risk people who just want to come home.
Let us allow Kiwis to come back to their own country and be a team of six million.
Traffic Lights Scheme confusing
The government is now scrambling to erect a major events insurance scheme, with reports of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) seeking advice from Wellington brokers over the past week.
Ardern has promised youth summer events as a vaccination carrot when she said ‘if you want summer… If you want to go to a concert or a festival – get vaccinated.’
The problem is that Friday’s (October 22, 2021) complicated scheme creates so much uncertainty there may not be any concerts or festivals.
Instead of a clear timeline for reopening, the Prime Minister’s plan depends on people in 21 District Health Boards (DHBs) getting vaccinated to 90%. It has created huge uncertainty about when the thresholds will be reached, and when the new traffic light system will actually be in place.
Festivals on tenterhooks
ACT understands that many festivals that have not already been cancelled are on tenterhooks, and Ardern’s unclear plan released on Friday has made the situation worse.
More cancellations are expected over the next two weeks.
Hospitality businesses know they can open at some point if they can stay solvent long enough to get across no man’s land. Major events must make commitments months ahead of time if they are going to open.
Event organisers have to commit not only to entertainers, but to tradies, temporary fence companies, and on it goes. They are used to taking big risks, but the government is pushing them over the limit.
Underwriting Major Events Insurance Fund
ACT has long said that the government should underwrite a Major Events Insurance Fund to insure event promoters against losses specific to Covid restrictions. That would give them the ability to plan under government-created uncertainty.
We are now hearing that the government is belatedly trying to get some sort of insurance up and running, they should just come clean and announce it before there are no events going whether you are vaccinated or not.
David Seymour is Member of Parliament elected from Epsom and Leader of the ACT Party. The above are two different press notes, merged for our purposes.
