Confirmation from Immigration New Zealand that its review into Czech drug-smuggler Karel Sroubek’s residency has been delayed is yet another sign of incompetence from the Labour-led Government, National Leader Simon Bridges says.

“Embattled Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said this review would be done within three weeks. He then said he expected it to be sooner than that.

“This was backed up by the Prime Minister who said ‘Neither of us are satisfied with the long timeline around going back and looking at what's happened in this case…I'm hoping and expecting we will get a response very, very soon’.

“When Winston Peters was Acting Prime Minister he said the report would be made ‘within a number of days.’

“Now we have learned that Sroubek and his lawyers have been given an extension to respond. That means there’s no way the review can be done within three weeks.

“Jacinda Ardern said we shouldn’t judge the Government on how it’s handled the affair so far, rather how it fixes up the mess. There are no signs of this mess being fixed. It has gone from bad to worse to beyond belief.

“There are still serious questions which need to be answered, such as - who made representations in this case and did they influence the decision making of the Minister? Why is the Prime Minister standing by Iain Lees-Galloway and his decision?

“There are still so many unanswered questions and no sign of New Zealanders getting any answers.”

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