Former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has apologised to New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis for comments made regarding her MIQ application.
Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has apologised to Charlotte Bellis for comments made regarding her MIQ application.
Hipkins said he has written to the New Zealand journalist apologising for errors in comments he made earlier this year and for the inclusion of personal information.
The journalist went public with her struggle to secure an MIQ spot to get home from Afghanistan while pregnant.
Hipkins had previously refused to apologise for his comments over her case.
In January, he said emergency MIQ applications required someone to travel to New Zealand within 14 days.
This morning he released a statement saying there were exceptions and Bellis' MIQ application was deactivated in error.
"Whilst it was generally a requirement for applications to be made within 14 days of travel the MIQ guidelines did have an exception to this requirement," he said.
"I have since been made aware that Ms Bellis was relying on special circumstances in respect of her application as she was in Afghanistan and that MIQ deactivated her application in error."
Hipkins had also claimed the pregnant journalist had been offered consular assistance twice in early December, while she was in Afghanistan.
In fact she was offered it in August, before she was pregnant, and in December while in Europe.
"In August she was not pregnant and communicated she did not need assistance. In December she was not in Afghanistan and it followed the government's announcement that the border would reopen to NZ citizens in February when she planned to return ahead of her child's birth," Hipkins' statement said.
"Ms Bellis had not previously been offered, nor ever refused, an MIQ spot."
He said his letter to her in March had apologised for "the errors in my comments, and the inclusion of personal information in the statement and for the subsequent distress it caused her".
Bellis was eventually able to return to New Zealand in March.
Charlotte Bellis Photo: YouTube screenshot
In a social media post, Bellis welcomed the apology and thanked Hipkins for correcting his inaccurate comments.
"The inaccurate information the Minister released to the media caused widespreadk confusion amongst the public and resulted in unwarranted verbal abuse towards myself and my partner Jim.
"We stand by our decision to speak out about our experience with MIQ to shine a light on a system that was no longer fit for purpose and negatively affecting so many New Zealand families; as well as to hold Minister Hipkins to account for his response to our personal case."
She said the couple looked forward to putting the events behind them and enjoying a new chapter with their daughter.