“When a Government denies the grieving parents of an 8-year-old boy who died from a long battle with cancer any family support at the funeral – it shows it has lost all perspective,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“I wrote to Ashley Bloomfield on behalf of constituents in my electorate whose 8-year-old son died after a six-and-a-half-year battle with cancer. The Director General of Health has the ability to make exceptions, but he refused.

“The parents, who are grieving an unimaginable loss, asked for a relative to join them from Blenheim for the funeral. The relative is the aunty of the boy who died and the sibling of one of his parents - one of their only living relatives.

“Multiple applications have been denied. The Ministry of Health does not recognise ‘aunt’ as immediate family.

“The Ministry of Health can’t see the wood for the trees. Its bureaucrats need to stop ticking boxes and filling in forms, step back and look at this for what it is. A family grieving the greatest loss anyone could imagine.

“The family is not asking for an MIQ space. The family member would be entering Auckland – not leaving the COVID hotspot.

“I am pleading COVID Response Minister Chris Hipkins, Ashley Bloomfield and Jacinda Ardern to be kind. Show some humanity. Allow this family to grieve together the loss of an 8-year-old boy.

“The funeral is tomorrow. This is now urgent – there is one flight left she can make, and the Government needs to act.”

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