If the Government are prepared to let Sir Ian Taylor have a crack at his self-isolation trial, one can only hope they will give some of his fellow business colleagues a crack at the idea of sorting out MIQ.
Everyone sees MIQ for what it is. Liam Lawson was the latest on the show this week, telling us of his misery and anger at the crap-shoot way it still treats people.
My daughter was in line again yesterday, although yesterday was different.
Each time she has a crack, she gets a number like 17,267th in queue. Worst, I think was well over 22,300th. At that number you just roll your eyes, say something about it not being fair, wait until the window closes, go back to your day, and make the appointment for the next time you line up with everyone else.
But yesterday her opening number was 3260th. Is the two-year wait about to be over? Is 3260th a number that could actually get you a space? Would she get a magical space? Would she get one of these 14-day rooms?
14 days, think about it. Remember when 14 days stuck in a crappy room was the actual story? Remember when we kept hearing from people complaining about the food and the boredom? Oh god, to return to those days of comparative misery.
These days, it's the weekly heartbreak for tens of thousands all over the world, as they get given mad numbers that only mean one thing, you don’t stand a hope in hell, sucker.
But then, from 3260th we move to 58th. Surely, that is a ticket home? But then up comes the message, rooms are low and about to run out. The window is due to close in a few moments.
And then, she was at 18th. 18th? They could stick the last 18 in one room, we'd take that.
But, no. Window closes, thanks for coming, but it's over. 18th was close, but it wasn’t close enough. It's hard to know what to say to a daughter who has been in a multiyear queue and got that close.
It's a cruel and heartless game. You're better off with the big laugh at the start being 22,000th, 18,600th, or 12,500th because you know where you stand.
58th to 18th? That's a taste of the prize. That's so close it hurts. And it did hurt. It hurt her and it hurt me.
The infuriating thing is there is a better way. A points-based system and the Sir Ian Taylors have it and they want to help, but the maniacs running the country don’t want to know.
People like my daughter and thousands like her all over the world are paying the price.
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings.
3 comments:
With regard to citizens marooned in various places all over the globe, some for more than a year now, what started as a sick joke has now become akin to criminal negligence on the govt's part.
We are not asking the govt or the NZ taxpayer to bring us home. We are demanding that the govt desist from actively stopping us getting home. Remove the barriers and we will do the rest ourselves.
It is not the citizens of New Zealand fault that we have an illness called " covid 19". This illness has been politicised beyond all expectations. The government has had many months to put protocols in place, the media have had many months to put pressure on the government and also to report the truth.
They have both failed.
New Zealanders are not stupid. New Zealanders, like those that wish to return, have rights. We can't let the government make retrospective legislation if there are some parts of the law they don't agree with.
Most of us have family members overseas who would like to come home. They should all be accommodated. Our overseas family members have equal rights to the PM and others. They are not inferior beings. A lottery system is plain ridiculous.
No matter how distasteful it is to ALL our politicians they are there to serve the people.They take an oath which says just that. I am vaccinated but I find it absolutely abhorrent that some people are saying unvaccinated people shouldn't get hospital care. Of course we should be promoting healthy lifestyle choice such as proper nutrition and weight loss as those are some of the factors that cause people to get worse covid outcomes.
Given the travel industry global lockdown difficulties there are numerous aircraft and cruise ships in mothballs. I don't know the dollar value or cost to the owners of these vessels, but one solution could be, If the government leased a half a dozen or so cruise ships and moored them in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch harbors and used them as MIQ facilities it could ease the current backlog as well as be a barrier to people inclined in MIQ to escape their environment.
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