Family battles for three months to try organise stay in managed isolation

A Kiwi family has spend the last three months trying to get to New Zealand with no luck. Photo / File

A frustrated Kiwi family has struggled for the last three months trying to book a flight from Australia to New Zealand to no avail.

Darron Mitchell booked flights for his family to return to the country in September, before the Government introduced a voucher system to manage the influx of returnees around the holiday period.

But for the next two months, the family of five’s travel was consistently delayed as Qantas couldn’t match up their flights with available dates in a managed isolation facility.

“It’s incredibly frustrating,” Mitchell told the Herald.

“We’ve sold a house, we’ve bought a house, we’ve given them so much notice.

“It doesn’t seem to hard to organise. We’re not asking for medical treatment – we just want to come home.”

All travellers to New Zealand now must have a voucher to stay in a managed isolation facility upon their arrival – or they won’t be allowed on their flight.

The system went live on October 5 and applied to any flights arriving after November 3.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this week defended the stretched system, saying there was not “limitless capacity” in New Zealand.

A further 100 rooms a day were being made available in managed isolation facilities between December 13 and 23, Managed Isolation and Quarantine head Air Commodore Darryn Webb announced on Monday.

Air Commodore Darryn Webb. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Because Mitchell had booked the flights before the new rules were introduced, he was told by Government staff his family would qualify for a special allocation accommodation, he said.

But days later, he was told the criteria for special allocation accommodation had tightened and was only allowed to those whose life was at risk.

“I took it at face value … all of a sudden we’re not fine. They’re promising something and incapable of delivering it,” he said.

“There was no real explanation as to why the rules suddenly changed.”

Their planned flight in early December is fast approaching – but there are no spots left in any managed isolation facilities.

Mitchell has again applied for a special exemption to try to make it into New Zealand before the New Year.

A month ago, he was told his case had been escalated – but he hasn’t heard anything since.

“I’ve been waiting now for almost 12 days since my special allocation request and in that time the earliest isolation accommodation available has gone from December 10 to January 14.

“The kids asked where we’re spending Christmas. I don’t know.”

PM Jacinda Ardern defends stretched managed isolation voucher system and has asked people no longer planning to return home to give up their vouchers to other travelers. Video / Mark Mitchell

With their house in Sydney sold and time running out on their lease, they now face booking expensive accommodation in the city over the busy Christmas period.

Mitchell’s three sons are enrolled to start school in the new year, but are now likely to miss at least the first month of classes, he said.

And even if the family cancelled their upcoming flight to book a later flight and accommodation, the soonest they can be in the country is February 19.

“In the time they are taking to process my special allocation the availability has moved out over two months,” he said.

“Part of the frustration is we can’t make any plans at all, because if I booked new flights, I don’t know if there’s accommodation. I’ve lost my trust in the system.

“It shouldn’t be a complicated process, I didn’t think it was going to be that much of an issue.”

Mitchell said the lack of information he’d been given about the process had made matters worse.

“If someone said ‘We running out of these dates,’ I would’ve made a plan B,” he said.

“The worst thing is the goalposts keep changing. There’s no information on which to base decisions.”

This year had been difficult for everyone and many had suffered worse than he had, Mitchell said.

“But it’s a pretty extraordinary failing on the part of the government to bungle being able to book people into hotels with three month’s notice.”

A Managed Isolation and Quarantine spokeswoman said there was a very high demand for spots in managed isolation facilities, with limited spaces available until next year.

“We’ve worked hard to ensure those travelling knew they needed to book a space in managed isolation and airlines have also been providing this information to their passengers,” she said.

“This applied to people who had booked their flights before November 3, when the Managed Isolation Allocation System became compulsory.

“Thousands of people with existing airline bookings booked their vouchers in the first hours that the Managed Isolation Allocation System went live at the beginning of October.

“In the grace period, which ran from October 5 to November 2, around 95 per cent of passengers arriving at airports had a voucher.”

The spokeswoman said an international awareness campaign of the upcoming restrictions had been underway since September.

“Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, this Christmas will be very different for many Kiwi families with loved ones overseas,” she said.

“We acknowledge that there are many people in distressing and challenging situations as a result of this global pandemic.

“A small number of places do become available from time to time if people cancel their vouchers so we recommend people check in regularly to see if space has opened up on their preferred dates.

“This is a dynamic system. We recommend people keep an eye on the website in order to book a voucher should any more capacity become available.”

Between October 5 and November 10, 38,483 passengers have secured an allocation to a Managed Isolation Facility, she said.

More than 25,627 vouchers had been provided, with one voucher able to cover up to 10 people.