The grieving family of a south Auckland business owner who died suddenly has made an emotional plea to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to allow them to attend his funeral.
Roy Green, whose south Auckland Mad Butcher store went into liquidation last week, died over the weekend. Stuff reports the 38-year-old along with his wife had owned the business for five years.
His family is now pleading for an exception to be made to the Government's COVID-19 alert level 2 funeral restrictions - with numbers capped at 10 people.
"My family and I watched your announcement [on Monday] hoping that you would allow more than 10 people to attend funerals. Sadly, this is not the case," says a letter to Ardern from Green's cousin Bianca Rhind, seen by NZME.
"Is there anyway we can do this in a safe way to allow the people who love and care about Roy to have the opportunity to say goodbye?"
The family says Green was "so proud of all that he had achieved", NZME reported.
"We all love him so dearly, and are so grateful to have had him in our lives. Our Roy, you will be eternally missed," Rhind says in the letter.
Many people have criticised the Government's ban on gatherings of more than 10 for funerals and tangi. Funeral directors and grieving families on Tuesday called on Ardern to alter the rules.
"We're left with this inconsistent and ludicrous situation where you can go to a supermarket and be with 60 other people, I can invite 10 people to a restaurant - but I can only have 10 at mum or dad's funeral," Funeral Directors Association president Gary Taylor told The AM Show on Tuesday.
"This is probably the single-most emotional event in anybody's life - the death and loss of a loved one - and we need to make sure we are dealing with that in an appropriate way, and that is gathering at a funeral."
Ardern said on Tuesday restrictions for funerals remain in place because the urge to physically comfort others is too risky.
"We know this is causing pain but we equally have tried to be really consistent."
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