van Velden BrookeBROOKE VAN VELDEN (Deputy Leader—ACT): Thank you Mr Speaker. I want to speak today about managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) and that's because today was the day that we actually expected an announcement on the MIQ changes. Unfortunately to the 1 million New Zealanders who are currently stuck overseas today is just another let-down another disappointment from this Government about not knowing when they can come home. I want to acknowledge the feelings of frustration that people must be feeling looking online checking to see whether there are allocations available and wanting to know what the future will hold. Should they get a visa in another country or will they actually be able to come back home and taste the fresh air of New Zealand? There is no certainty and I want to endorse a banner that we saw at the All Blacks game at the USA: MIQ does suck and we should let them come home.The Government keeps talking about the team of 5 million but really we are a team of 6 million. There are grandparents in New Zealand whose grandchildren will nearly be reaching the age of two and they still will never have had a cuddle. They will never have been able to give them a kiss and I think that is so unfortunate and unfair. There are parents who have been separated from their children and they can't come back through the border. We know that there are people who have missed the births and funerals of their children and their family members. I cannot imagine the frustration they are feeling and I want to acknowledge that.But I want to talk about two stories that have come to me. I've been talking with a woman who is pregnant in New Zealand who has not had the support of her partner who's been stuck locked out of the country. She was so stressed her midwife was worried for her baby. Her emergency allocation for her husband was declined. And so what did she do? She decided to take the Government to court and lo and behold what happened? He's now got a spot in MIQ. That's what you have to do to try and get an MIQ allocation; you have to take the Government to court. Is that acceptable? Absolutely not. We know of nine other couples in that exact situation. I have also been talking with a man whose wife is an ICU nurse who cannot come back through the border. Her application has been declined when we have a skills shortage not just for nurses but ICU nurses—so desperately sought after for our COVID response. The Government has been slow off the mark. They've given 300 spaces per month for a specific allocation for health workers now; they should have had that months ago.But we're also in a very strange situation now where the Government is setting aside these specific allocations at a time when they're saying there's going to be another announcement. There is so much uncertainty—should people apply for these allocated positions when you can't even do so on the websites yet or should they wait wait to see whether self-isolation will actually happen? ACT has been saying for months that we should allow fully vaccinated people who've had a negative pre-departure test the ability to come home back through the border and self-isolate at home. The Government has already allowed COVID-positive people here in New Zealand to be able to self-isolate at home. These are low-risk travellers. Why should there be any difference? We know an announcement is coming. What is the Government waiting for? We've been waiting for weeks and weeks.The Government has had the world's longest nap for over 18 months with no changes to MIQ. People need the certainty of knowing when they can come home because quite frankly it feels like they have abandoned New Zealanders. The Government is making it up as they go along but we need to know that certainty we need it for those people who are anxious and afraid of in the case of pregnancy whether they'll have a support person in the country to help them through those first thousand days of their child's life or whether they will actually be able to have a job to come back to or even whether their visas in another country will expire and they'll have a place to come home to. It is unfair. We are a team of 6 million not 5 million and the Government should respect people and give them the certainty they need. Thank you Mr Speaker.