Former Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins has addressed the government blunder that led to an 11-day Covid-19 lockdown in Northland as the Far North mayor calls for accountability.
A police investigation, released today, revealed three women, who had tested positive for Covid-19 after crossing into Northland, had not breached the Auckland lockdown and had correct documentation.
The women's application to enter the region was rejected by one government department, then approved by another, the Ministry of Social Development.
Hipkins told media the lockdown was sparked because the virus was in an area with low vaccination rates, not because the women had gone beyond Auckland's lockdown parameters.
"The decisions we took around the Northland lockdown were to protect Northlanders - very low vaccination rates back at that time, Delta was not circulating widely within the New Zealand community outside of Auckland.
"So our first and foremost priority at that time was to protect the people of Northland as much as we could."
Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Asked if there would be an apology or if someone would take responsibility, Hipkins said the "clerical error" was previously admitted.
"I was very, very clear in all of my comments at the time, that much of the information that we had was not fully confirmed, but ultimately the decision that we took is not one that we would change now."
He said he learnt about the error as the investigation continued to unfold and that was made clear at the time.
"There's nothing new in the report as I've read it today. All of this was a matter of public record at the time."
Far North mayor John Carter. Photo: Supplied
But the report was frustrating news for Far North mayor John Carter, who wanted some accountability and an apology.
"I just want to make the point that we get huge and positive support from our local bureaucrats up here," Carter told Morning Report. "But it's the silent arrogant invisible bloody Wellington, excuse my language, bureaucrats that are frustrating, that don't know where we are, I don't think they even know where the provinces are.
"In this case, we've been locked down because we had the Auckland border across us anyway and then somebody makes a mistake, that puts another two weeks on, puts more businesses at risk, puts jobs at risk, causes problems in our community and nobody stands up and admits they made a mistake."
"I don't think they even know where the provinces are" - Far North mayor John Carter
Infometrics estimated the lockdown cost Northland's GDP $23 million.
Carter said he accepted everybody made mistakes, but someone needed to take responsibility so they could move on.
"We don't want to waste a whole lot of time and money on it ... but just the fact that they stand up and accept that they didn't get it right would be great.
"They pass all these bloody rules that they expect us to follow and to the letter of law and yet when they make a mistake, 'oh it doesn't matter, it's just Northland, let's get on with life'."
The police investigation also found no evidence to support allegations at the time that claimed the women had links to gangs or were prostitutes.
Carter said he did not know who the women were but he hoped those in charge had the decency to approach them with an apology about what happened.
Asked about the backlash the women faced, Hipkins said they had asked the public at the time not to make judgements and pushed back against allegations.
"I think it reinforces the overall view that we took at the time, that actually we shared information as much as we could so that people were informed about the decisions we were making, but judgements and some of the commentary was not particularly helpful."
Apprenticeships programme
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, along with Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni also marked the government's apprenticeship boost programme supporting over 50,000 apprentices to move into or retain their trade.
Speaking at a Fulton Hogan site in Mount Wellington, Ardern said the government had a particular focus on supporting Māori and Pasifika youth to take up apprenticeships.
Of apprentices in the boost programme, 19 percent identify as Māori, 8 percent Pacific and 17 percent are female.
"We know that those jobs that apprenticeships lead to are often well paying high-quality jobs that have real certainty to them, Ardern said.
"We have massive infrastructure gaps in New Zealand, we need more housing and the number of the apprenticeship programmes that I visited have had good numbers of Māori and Pacific youth engaged in them.
"One of the things we need to do though is to keep working with our employers to ensure that diversity of take-up." The scheme had 18,800 employers signed up.