“If it isn’t doing so already, the Government needs to start profiling travellers according to their risk of absconding from managed isolation and quarantine facilities,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour.

“It makes absolutely no sense to place the same level of security around every traveller entering the country.

“The vast majority of people entering New Zealand will pose absolutely no risk of absconding from managed isolation and quarantine facilities.

“But a tiny minority will be a risk. The Government should be using the information at its disposal to figure out who those travellers are most likely to be and place them under tighter security.

“The most obvious risk factor for absconding is a criminal record. People who have disregarded the law in the past are more likely to do so in future.

“Because the Government has bungled its border operation so badly, it has now been forced to take police officers off the streets so they can babysit incoming travellers.

“Ultimately, that means fewer crimes being prevented or solved because of the Government’s incompetence at the border.

“If the Government wanted to use its scarce resources more efficiently, it would be profiling incoming travellers to find out which are most likely to abscond and placing them in one location under tighter security.

“We are a long way away from having the smartest borders in the world.

“Unless the Government becomes nimbler and more innovative at the border, New Zealanders will be living under blunt measures for longer. We simply can’t afford not to start reconnecting with the world.”

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