“The Government needs to explain why people are being blocked from going in to Auckland,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
"People are beside themselves and ambulances have been reported rescuing people caught in a monumental traffic jam at Auckland’s southern border.
“I have had several people approach me about this issue tonight. Reports are a six hour wait, and enormous distress.
“For anyone, but especially the elderly or those with children or animals in the car, the experience has been hellish, not helped by the late summer sun beating down on Auckland.
“The whole premise of Auckland being at Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country at Alert Level 2 is to contain the virus in Auckland. If the danger is in Auckland, how does it help to stop people entering? If the danger was outside Auckland, the rest of the country would be at Alert Level 3, too.
“If people are planning to turn around and leave Auckland, or travel through, they will know they’ll be checked leaving. They don’t need to risk expiration waiting for a police check, Auckland’s Level 3 restrictions offer enough discouragement already.
“The total lack of logic and proportion to risk in this move will erode public confidence in the Government, and that is dangerous in an epidemic. It wreaks of a government that is not thinking straight.
“The Government should explain the need for roadblocks entering Auckland, or let people through. Otherwise it appears to be another example of the Government failing to think straight, or balance concern about COVID with other health and safety concerns.”
ENDS