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Speaker Trevor Mallard in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Auckland’s MPs will be able to return to Parliament after two months away – but the Speaker wants them to get pre-departure Covid-19 tests, do five days of self-isolation in Wellington, and get a further test before they can enter the buildings.
Speaker Trevor Mallard issued the requirements in an email to MPs and Parliamentary staff on Wednesday.
In the same email he signalled a vaccinations certificate could be required for the public and government department staff to visit Parliament from early next year, saying he had asked for work to be done on how such a system would operate.
MPs are essential workers, and the Speaker’s rules for their return are much more stringent than for other essential workers who leave Auckland for work. The only requirement for those is a weekly negative test result.
Only a handful of MPs are yet to get a vaccination and all have said they intended to get one. Judith Collins said her MP Maureen Pugh had told her she was booking a vaccination.
However, in an email to all of Parliament’s staff Mallard said the extra precautions were needed to avoid him having to boost the restrictions that apply around Parliament.
“Members acting outside of this pathway will result in me having to make significant changes to the operation of the precinct, including the possibility of raising the effective alert level of the Parliamentary Precinct to level 3.”
Parliament will next sit from October 19, so any MPs who wish to attend on that day will have to fly back to Wellington before October 12.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern flew back to Wellington from Auckland on the day the outbreak was first detected on August 17, but since then the only Auckland MP to return was Judith Collins when Parliament was reconvened.
At that point, the Speaker decided to treat Parliament as if it was at the same level as Auckland until Collins had been back for 14 days – it meant that while Wellington was at level 2, the restrictions that applied at Parliament were level 4 and 3 restrictions.
It has operated with distanced seating, and limited numbers of MPs in the Debating Chamber since then.
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