The Government won't say where deportees from Australia are going to spend their two-week isolation, other than it's at a dedicated hotel in central Auckland.
It was announced on Sunday deported Kiwis from Australia will be housed in a dedicated managed isolation facility. They'll be separated from other people isolating, in part because officials are worried about break-outs.
The facility is due to begin operating this week and will remain in use for as long as needed to manage returnees as they complete their 14-days in isolation.
But a New Zealand deportee from Australia says they've all been "kept in the dark" by the Government about their managed isolation.
Mitchell Wakelin has spent 13 months in Brisbane's Pinkenba detention centre and was first due to fly to New Zealand a couple of days before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Although Health Minister Chris Hipkins says there's been a "very rigorous process" of preparing for the arrival of the returnees, Wakelin claims they've been told very little.
"I asked where we were flying to and they said 'an airport'. Just kept in the dark the whole time," Wakelin says.
When deportee advocate Filipa Payne was asked what assistance the New Zealand Government was giving returnees, she said at the moment there had been "nothing".
The Government will pay the approximately $100,000 bill for the 30 deportees' two-week isolation hotel stay.
The Government says it's a "trial" and Australia's promised not to deport more people without consultation.
Deportees are sent back to New Zealand after either committing a crime or being suspected of committing one.
Thousands have been controversially sent back here since 2015, with a link drawn to the subsequent rise in gang violence.
Deportations were paused due to COVID-19, but the 30 are due to return either on Tuesday or Wednesday on a charter flight paid for by Australia.
