“The most visible Prime Minister in New Zealand political history was nowhere to be seen as the border was effectively closed to overseas Kiwis last night,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Covid-19 Ministers met yesterday. Did they make the decision to delay the MIQ room release at that meeting? If they did, why didn’t Jacinda Ardern publicly announce the decision and then take questions from journalists?

“Kiwis stranded overseas had to learn their fate through an 8pm press release posted on the MBIE website by a bureaucrat – they will be livid.

“That’s not kind. And it’s not open and transparent.

“The Prime Minister will deliver propaganda from the podium when it suits, but if there’s bad news she’s nowhere to be seen. There’s no accountability in Jacinda Ardern’s Hermit Kingdom.

“We can’t go on like this. Families have been torn apart and businesses can’t get workers. It’s time for honesty and certainty.

“Labour seems to have no idea of the anguish it’s causing people trapped offshore.

“Jacinda Ardern keeps talking about the team of five million. We’re actually a team of six million. There are a million Kiwis offshore who still call New Zealand home who have no pathway to coming back.

“People want to come home for many reasons. Family reunions, deaths of loved ones, the arrival of new babies, to fill jobs, and just being with family and friends. New Zealand is their home, keeping them locked out and fighting over a tiny number of MIQ spaces is cruel.

“Let’s allow Kiwis to come back to their own country and be a team of six million.”

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