OPINION: A concession from the Government came on Monday, with the announcement that November 29 is 'Freedom Day', after what had become an infuriating mess.
"The 29th actually represents roughly three weeks from when Auckland will have had the opportunity for those first doses to turn into second doses. That's why Cabinet has a very strong expectation that at that check-in, we'll likely see the movement of Auckland into that new framework," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
"Cabinet has a very strong expectation that at that check-in, we'll likely see the movement of Auckland into that new framework.
"For the summer break and for Christmas, Aucklanders will be able to leave Auckland, regardless of what is happening around the rest of the country. We've already given that commitment. We cannot say that Auckland needs to stay within Auckland at a time of year where traditionally they're reunited with family and friends.
"What we need to do, of course, is put in place protections that we need to give additional reassurance to the rest of the country around that movement."
The drip feeding of information, and the refusal to set any concrete dates or give any certainty, was getting silly - and still in large part is.
Transitioning from one strategy to another was always going to be messy, but we also bought time between our first outbreak last year and this one.
The Government should have been more prepared.
People need to know when the Auckland and international borders will open, if schools will definitely go back, and what the plan is if some regions don't hit 90 percent vaccination of the eligible population when the rest of us do.
The Government needs to stop treating these basic fundamentals - that allow people to plan - as state secrets.
Tova O'Brien is Newshub's political editor
