The Chief Ombudsman is launching a "broad investigation" into the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) booking system after receiving hundreds of complaints.
Managed Isolation and Quarantine online booking page with no availability. Photo: RNZ
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said there were common themes in the 200 complaints he had received.
"The complaints fit into four broad categories - they claim the allocation system is unlawful, unfit for purpose, unfair, and poorly managed. I have decided to do my own independent investigation into them all."
He said one the specific complaints was that disabled people were being disadvantaged.
"I have concerns about whether the online booking system is accessible and whether suitable alternatives are being offered for those who have difficulty using this digital platform."
He acknowledged the MIQ system was "set up quickly in response to an immediate crisis" and border restrictions and managed isolation and quarantine facilities are going to be "a fact of life for some time to come".
"I want to find out how MBIE is responding to these concerns and whether it has a robust plan in place for allocating places in the coming months and years. If there is not, I will recommend it makes improvements."
Boshier told Checkpoint he had the ability to recommend changes to the MIQ system, which may have more success than legal action against the government.
"I can be very far reaching and much broader than a court is able to go. For instance, I can say this is the way your system is built, I find that unreasonable, I recommend you change it, and do the following.
"And most of the time… most recommendations I make are taken up by agencies."
Boshier told Checkpoint he had the ability to recommend changes to the MIQ system, which may have more success than legal action against the government.
"I can be very far-reaching and much broader than a court is able to go. For instance, I can say 'this is the way your system is built, I find that unreasonable, I recommend you change it and do the following'.
"And most of the time ... most recommendations I make are taken up by agencies."
"I've never had such a barrage of complaints as has happened here" - Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier
He wanted to now look at MBIE's process and if other ways of finding a solution had been sought.
"MBIE have engaged well, but the complaints here are so many and written with such intensity that I've got to dig much deeper.
"Many people don't understand why MBIE can't organise a priority system."
He said the complainants were educated people and not people who "have got nothing else to do".
"I'm really, really concerned that so many find this so stressful. Many people just say to me that they have members of their family who have tried to engage with the system and find it utterly frustrating.
"I feel that the complainants are matched by a number who have had an experience that hasn't been very attractive."