Melissa Lee
Wellington, August 23, 2021
Why can’t the government be kind?
Image from The Conversation
Once again New Zealand was plunged into a state of uncertainty with community cases around New Zealand and an Alert Level 4 Lockdown being put into effect last Tuesday (August 17, 2021) evening.
It was somewhat surreal hearing that the news of the lockdown on a patchy signal driving back to the airport from Mid Canterbury following a productive day of Caucus visits from Timaru to Ashburton. The looming lockdown was nowhere to be seen as we visited a number of community organisations to talk about their needs and ideas as well as engage with local shops and businesses.
It was a different story when I returned to Auckland. The supermarkets were raided of almost all essential produce with not a loaf to be seen and only a miserly bag of bagels available left on the bread shelves by Wednesday morning.
At the time I write this, we are now several days into the level 4 lockdown with the likelihood of further extensions and I have to question why this government is failing to allow butchers, grocers and bakers to open their doors or even clarify the advice they’ve received to stop them from opening.
These businesses are the lifeblood of our ethnic communities, and during times of crisis they are there for us. The local shops are there to support our local schools and Rugby teams and they are there to be there for us as a kind, friendly and knowing face. They supply products simply not found in our large chain supermarkets that cater to the needs of ethnic New Zealanders and during uncertain times like these cultural support is just as important for health and wellbeing as other safety measures.
They know also how to do their jobs safely and effectively. They are food suppliers and know food safety, they know how to offer contactless pickup services and they know how important it is to keep their customers well fed and safe.
As some shopkeepers have been saying, it is cruel and arbitrary to allow supermarkets and dairies to be open but not their store, particularly when these stores have been part of their communities for generations. It is not kind and it is not good enough.
Our supermarket supply chains are clearly being stretched and shoppers are taking additional risks at fewer supermarkets with more and more being identified as locations of interest in the latest community outbreak. We are being asked to stay local and yet for many in our community the supermarket is several to dozens of kilometres away with little to no online delivery choices for weeks ahead while a row of local food suppliers just down the road are forced to shut their doors and are losing their livelihoods while tens of thousands of dollars of stock goes to waste.
I have received countless emails and calls from constituents who are both shopkeepers and their clientele asking for clarification, noting their frustration and confusion at the current situation, an example being a commercial florist who is now looking at up to $70,000 of lost product that cannot be stored. As my colleague Economic Development Spokesperson Todd McClay wrote this week, many are saying to National MPs they feel safer being socially distanced at their butcher or baker than at one of the large supermarket chains.
Last lockdown, the government was forced to backdown from a racist and arbitrary policy to discriminately close ethnic-focused supermarkets in favour of the big national chains.
At the time I was scathing of their actions saying “New Zealand is a country that prides itself on its diversity. At unprecedented times like this it is important that the Government does all it can to provide New Zealanders with certainty. This will not be achieved through closing doors of ethnic grocery stores to people who solely depend on these stores for food supply.” Our nation also relies on our smaller ethnic business owners who are at the coalface of retail in our towns and suburbs, we need to get them support and get them operating again for our economy and our food supply chain. Trade must be allowed where it can be done safely for the benefit of all.
We need to get food back on the table.
Melissa Lee is a Member of Parliament on National List and the Party’s Spokesperson for Broadcasting & Media| Digital Economy and Communications and Ethnic Communities. She has decades of experience in the media industry.
