Venkat Raman
Auckland, January 29, 2021
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi speaking at the press conference (Screenshot)
Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi has said that tour and other event organisers must get all border requirements related to Covid-19 approved before trying to enter New Zealand.
He was speaking at a press conference held at the Media Centre in Parliament Buildings a short while ago.
‘Le Laperouse’ Affair
Last month, ‘Le Laperouse,’ a Charter Cruise Vessel was stopped at the border for failing to comply with the new border rules in force. It is still outside the New Zealand waters.
Mr Faafoi said that when Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield gave permission to ‘Le Laperouse,’ it was on the condition that it had obtained the necessary visas from Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
“That was made clear to the ship’s agents at least twice. I understand that INZ received a request for border exceptions for 90 foreign crew members on board the vessel 48 hours before it began its journey to New Zealand. INZ granted visas to 29 of the crew who were considered essential for the operation of the ship to travel to New Zealand for the purpose of delivering it to a business and for refit or refurbishment. It declined visas for the other 61 crew who were not considered essential for the purpose of the ship’s travel to New Zealand. The ship should have waited for decisions on visas to be completed to ensure those on board complied with New Zealand immigration requirements when the ship entered our border,” he said.
Need for compliance
Mr Faafoi reiterated Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s message last week that organisers of events including concerts and tours should have all the necessary paperwork and Covid compliance requirements sorted before they make bookings, sell tickets, or try to bring workers into New Zealand.
“New Zealand’s strict Covid-19 border controls have been in place for many months now to keep New Zealanders safe and control spread of the virus. When businesses ignore those border requirements, or try to find ways to get around them, they put other New Zealand businesses and communities at risk. We have processes for granting exceptions to allow entry under certain criteria, but people need to ensure that applications they make for a border entry exception meet the criteria,” he said.
Supporting businesses
Mr Faafoi said that the government supports enterprise and resilience of New Zealand businesses and has been taking measures and implementing initiatives, including changes to various visa settings, to help them.
“But everyone has had to accept that Covid brings complications and processes that did not exist before the pandemic. It is critical that we all follow those processes, give adequate time to ensure the requirements of those processes are met, and all play our part to make sure New Zealand avoids the worst effects of this pandemic,” he said.
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