Kiwis who are stuck in Australia say they’re in limbo, after a u-turn by the New Zealand Government.
In a surprise decision, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment backtracked on a promise to open up red-zone flights for those who’d travelled to Australia.
It was a move many had been holding out hope for, after the trans-Tasman bubble was paused for at least two months.
1 NEWS spoke with Jessica Short, who has been stuck in Melbourne for five weeks.
“I can’t sleep at night because I spend the whole night awake trying to work out the implication of ‘what if I was stuck here until January’.”
Short left for Melbourne just before New Zealand closed itself off to Australia, and says she knew she wouldn’t be returning on a quarantine-free flight.
However, she says there’s been no clarity about when she’ll be able to apply for a spot in MIQ.
“I just want to have some certainty, at some stage in my life, that I can get back home.”
Short says the situation has been made more difficult with sports teams like the All Blacks being cleared to travel in and out of Australia.
“It’s so hard to reconcile in your head that there are some New Zealand citizens, and even citizens of other countries, that are more important than you.”
On Wednesday last week, MBIE said it would be restarting ‘red zone’ flights, and opening up MIQ vouchers to those trapped in Australia.
However, last night that changed, with the Ministry issuing this statement:
“Since then, the demand for MIQ rooms in New Zealand has increased significantly due to the need to accommodate hundreds of Covid-19 cases from the community in MIQ facilities.
“Consequently, we continue to evaluate MIQ’s capacity in this rapidly changing environment.”
While the Ministry said it would offer one flight on Sunday for those with emergency exemptions, there are no firm plans at this stage about when red zone flights will resume.
MBIE would not put someone up to be interviewed in person for this story.
SHARE ME