National wants to charge a fee to partially meet the costs of those in quarantine.

Deputy leader Gerry Brownlee says taxpayers are funding a long and very expensive government response to let people come into the country.

Everyone entering New Zealand from 11.59pm on 3 October 2020 will be charged a fee to partially meet the costs of their quarantine under a National Government, National’s Covid-19 Border Response spokesman Gerry Brownlee says.

The Government had been considering a proposal, but has in the meantime worked on a plan with Air New Zealand to reduce the number of flights into NZ.

“It’s entirely fair that those who benefit pay a share.”

“National will require people entering New Zealand to pay a fixed fee of $3000 for one adult to help cover the costs of managed isolation and quarantining.”

He said “this fee is for the purpose of cost recovery to reduce the burden on New Zealand taxpayers, and to cover some of the costs of accommodation and food over the 14 days of required quarantine for persons entering the country.”

This will apply to all persons entering quarantine and there will be certain exemptions to ensure compassionate consideration. 

Additional adults in a room if a couple has arrived, will be charged an additional $1000. 

 Children under 3 years will have no cost and over 3 years will see an additional $500. 

 There will be exemptions only for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents on compassionate grounds and in cases where they are facing financial hardship.

 The policy is broadly the same as signed off this week by Australia’s National Cabinet and is in line with policies in New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia.

 “Two-week quarantining looks likely to be with us for a while,” Mr Brownlee says, “This is a practical solution to a growing problem.”

“National’s policy is about fairness. Many Kiwis have only one or two overseas holidays in their lives. National won’t expect taxpayers to pay for other Kiwis returning from high-paying careers or expensive holidays in Europe”

 “Those who need to return to New Zealand have had plenty of time to get home since border restrictions began, including through repatriation flights organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 “They will have a further two weeks to get home without facing the charge, after the election of a National Government on 19 September.”

 Mr Brownlee says “National accepts there will be issues that would need to be accommodated under the Bill of Rights Act 1990 and international law. The criteria will also be informed by common sense.”

“During this international crisis National will do what it takes to maintain a safe and secure border. But we will not impose extra costs when budgets and incomes are under strain.”

Right now, each person returning to New Zealand is required to be quarantined for two weeks. This costs the country around $4000 per person.

The Government had spent $80 million on quarantining by the end of June, with $298 million appropriated for the rest of 2020.

COVID 19 CASES TODAY

There are three new cases of COVID-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand today.

It has been 79 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source.

Two of today’s cases were in managed isolation in Waikato and the third in Christchurch.

The first case is a man in his 30s who arrived in New Zealand on 14 July from Afghanistan flying via Doha.

The second is also a man in his 30s who arrived in New Zealand on 14 July from Pakistan flying via Dubai. 

Both positive results were from day 3 tests.

Both returnees, and the family of the second case, were transferred last night from Waikato to the Auckland quarantine facility.

The third case is a woman in her 70s who arrived in New Zealand on 30 June from India.

She was already in quarantine in the Chateau on the Park in Christchurch after a family member tested positive from a day 3 test. The woman remains in quarantine.

The number of active cases in New Zealand is 25.

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1,203.

There is no one in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for COVID-19.

Yesterday aboratories completed 1,365 tests. Our seven day rolling daily average number of tests is 1,984.

The total number of tests completed in New Zealand to date is 442,488.