Decisions haven't been made on whether Aucklanders' will be able to leave the region for Christmas and summer, Labour's David Parker says, as National's Simon Bridges blasts the Government for making up "policy on the hoof".
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday that fully vaccinated travellers returning to New Zealand would not be able to self-isolate at home without a stint in MIQ until at least some time in the first quarter of next year when the traffic light system had been bedded in.
The traffic light system won't come into effect nationwide until all DHBs hit 90 percent double dose, something current estimates say isn't likely until January. Auckland will enter the new framework when its three DHBs hit 90 percent, estimated to be at the end of November.
Appearing on The AM Show on Friday, Parker said the Government was not yet willing to allow fully vaccinated Kiwis overseas to return without a MIQ stay as they could still be potentially carrying COVID and take it outside of Auckland.
"Although we are experiencing a COVID outbreak in Auckland and we are trying to manage that now through vaccination, most of the country is still free of COVID," the Labour MP said. "If we had people coming through the border and going to those areas we would have an increased risk of COVID in those areas."
Following that logic, The AM Show's Ryan Bridge asked if that also meant fully vaccinated Aucklanders would not be able to travel outside of the region for Christmas, before all regions have hit 90 percent.
Parker replied by saying that by Christmas, Auckland is expected to be above 90 percent double dose and "by that time we will have taken decisions at a central Government level about inter-regional travel".
"It is true that those decisions have not yet been taken but they will need to be taken before Christmas. I am not saying what the answer will be. But by then we will be into the traffic light system."
Bridge asked if that meant that even if the rest of the country wasn't at the traffic light system, Aucklanders would be able to leave.
"No, I am saying that decision will have to be taken before then and by then there will be other parts of New Zealand that are at 90+ and they will be in the traffic light system too," Parker replied.
So could the Government section off DHB areas yet to get to 90 percent and not allow travel into them, but allow travel elsewhere, Bridge asked the minister.
"Those decisions haven't yet been taken," Parker again said. "Those decisions will be considered once we are into the traffic light system."
Bridges, the Tauranga MP and former National leader, said the traffic light system was a "traffic light shambles"
"I thought I sorta understood as a relatively informed New Zealander how it worked," he said.
"I thought it worked… that if one place was at 90 percent but if others weren't, there wouldn't be movement between.
"Now we are hearing we might be able to hop, skip and jump over Gisborne into Tauranga from Auckland, but you won't be able to go to Whangārei, for example.
"It's a shambles. It's policy on the hoof. I think politics means they will start to open up, but on the logic of what David said and the preparation that's been done, no show."
Parker jumped in to say he hadn't suggested what Bridges was saying he had.
When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the traffic light system last Friday, she clearly stated that a "target of 90 percent fully vaccinated across each DHB region has been set as the milestone to trigger the country into the new system".
But there may be some wriggle-room with that. Cabinet will review the vaccination rates on November 29 and Ardern suggested regions could be brought into the traffic light system if they are very close to 90 percent.
"We’ve put in that review date because we do want to just assess our progress, assess what more might need to be done to support, assess whether or not, if you’re 88.9 and you’re right on the cusp, and you’ve got enough bookings that demonstrate you’re going to hit it, we will be pragmatic, but we’ve got that check-in date for a reason."
Asked at the time whether Aucklanders will be able to see family around the country by Christmas, Ardern said "absolutely" and that the Government was working on an "idea of using vaccination certificates coupled with testing to enable Aucklanders to move beyond the border".
She said it was a "significant logistical challenge" to establish a land border, which may be necessary to check vaccination status.
That would also likely require vaccination certificates or some proof of vaccination to be set up. The Government believes that will be ready sometime in November.
