“News that a travel bubble with Australia won’t happen until well into next year is a sad but not surprising indictment on the approach Jacinda Ardern has taken to the issue since it was first mooted,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“Jacinda Ardern is a can’t do Prime Minister when it comes to developing and trusting systems designed to identify, track and trace an outbreak of Covid-19.
“That’s why she’s clinging to whatever flimsy excuse she can find to avoid opening up travel bubbles with nations that have gotten on top of the virus as well if not better than we have.
“The Government needs to stop being ruled by fear and take a practical approach to managed isolation and quarantine.
“We shouldn’t be isolating people from places that haven’t had Covid-19 for months with the same requirements for people coming from places where the virus is raging.
“New Zealand needs to be a can-do nation that evolves and improves on its response to Covid-19.
“The Prime Minister has instilled an illegitimate sense of fear in much of the population, believing everyone will be satisfied to wait the virus out.
“All of Australia’s state and territory borders are now open to one another and some of our close Pacific neighbours have no Covid-19 whatsoever.
“Medical and scientific experts are saying there is no good reason to keep New Zealand isolated.
“They’ve concluded that with the proper precautions whatever tiny risk there is of the virus spreading can be reasonably managed.
“So what is the Prime Minister waiting for?
“With businesses going broke the Prime Minister should be managing and balancing risks instead of putting it all in the too hard basket.
“There is only so long a large number of businesses can hang in there with just the domestic market to sustain them.”
ENDS