The decision to fly to Australia at this uncertain time was not made lightly, but the only reason I submitted to the mandated inoculation was in order to make this trip, and so, there I was at Auckland International Airport wondering when I would see Kiwi shores again. 

That my children and young grandchildren live trans-Tasman is a compelling and persuasive reason to leave Hobbitown and head for the opening borders across the ditch. The counter is that, of course, our PM is once again likely to make re-entry even more impossible with her ever-tightening grip on MIQ, so that our borders remain effectively shut tightly against the tide of citizens cut off from their lives. Closed to New Zealand citizens, all holding passports that state: 

The Governor -General in the Realm of New Zealand requests in the Name of Her Majesty the Queen all whom it may concern to allow the holder to pass without delay or hindrance and in the case of need to give all lawful assistance and protection. 

So much for that then. We are unable to pass without delay or hindrance and no assistance or protection will be provided in the case of need. We should advise Her Majesty that her loyal subjects are effectively being made stateless by Jacinda Ardern and in Her Majesty’s name.

Auckland International Airport is a very different place these days. The cavernous public spaces resembled a movie set for a dystopian drama, with just a few actors dotted about. There were no food outlets open pre-Customs and just one post-Customs (very expensive and limited), no bookstore for a last-minute magazine purchase, duty-free was a barricaded wasteland of perfume and liquor, and cold drinks and crisps were available from vending machines. 

I sat at a table overlooking the runway and watched the comings and goings of service vehicles, snakes of moving luggage trolleys, and airport security vehicles. I watched as an Air New Zealand Dreamliner slid from its gate and rolled elegantly down the runway to lift smoothly into a cumulous-scattered morning. It looked reassuringly like real life.

The need to see my family is overwhelming. 

I am not going on holiday. I am going to once again be a mother and a grandmother and to help out in busy households. I am just one of the thousands who are in the same predicament – to stay or to go and risk exclusion from New Zealand. To see our families – or miss their development and achievements and the fun we have together. 

The role of grandparents in children’s lives is well documented as providing an important part of development and emotional growth. It is a dual relationship, and we all benefit from being close. Yes, of course, there is risk involved as getting back remains indubitably questionable, but life itself is not a risk-free experience and at this stage of my life if I don’t take a calculated risk then I may just as well give up completely. 

I do not wish to succumb to the crushing tyranny that Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s most divisive and destructive Prime Minister in the history of the country is implementing with mandates and frowny faces and hidden agendas. The Playschool red traffic light with the loss of economic and social wellbeing and the long list of other deprivations that arise from that will once again put the country in a race to the bottom when all others are relaxing restrictions and life is beginning to assume more normal patterns.

Omicron will, of course, escape her communist clutches. Her jackboots will not be able to stamp it out: a fool’s quest from the beginning. It will visit thousands of us and have us take to our beds with varying levels of infectious nastiness. Some of us will have mild symptoms. Some of us will die. And many of us will die because of the issues that are now being ignored in a less-than illustrious health system, where medical staff have been mandated out of their jobs at the very time they are desperately needed. What madness is this? 

Omicron is now rampant in Australia so they are realistically opening borders and relaxing restrictions. I flew to Darwin, via Brisbane, to the extremely hot and humid Top End with the lingering charm of its earlier status as a colonial outpost and with far too many crocodiles, in its extraordinary wet season. 

Northern Territory Border Entry Requirements

You must:

Check the border entry flow chart PDF (154.3 KB)

You also must:

  • Have a Rapid Antigen Test within two hours after arriving in the NT.
  • Have a Rapid Antigen Test on Day 3 after arriving in the NT.
  • Have a Rapid Antigen Test on Day 6 after arriving in the NT.
  • Wear a mask when in excluded communities up until the seventh day after your arrival in the NT.
  • Essential workers must have a daily Rapid Antigen Test while in excluded communities, up until the seventh day after your arrival in the NT.

As proof, a photo must be taken of each of the test results, the packaging displaying the batch number and a document identifying yourself, this must be retained and provided on request. You must submit an online declaration stating that you completed the first test within two days of arrival and additional tests no later than Day 8 after arriving in the NT.  Interstate and international arrivals | Coronavirus (COVID-19)

RAT tests were supplied on arrival at Darwin International Airport.  The system is very quick, slick and easy. A manageable and sensible system given that Omicron will swamp any but sensible and pragmatic systems and manageable processes. This is not a hands-off and let it rip scenario but a technically enabled and coordinated system.

I accept that I will more likely than not get Omicron. I am fine with that. A positive case known to us has a mild pain behind his eyes and slight fatigue, but no other symptoms. He is in home isolation for seven days. The rest of the family is not required to isolate and he is restricted to a non-shared bathroom and bedroom, with meals and supplies left outside his door. It reportedly works just fine.

I appreciate that many will tut-tut at my irresponsibility to leave now and with no return possible until common sense and pragmatism become inevitable, and home isolation becomes the norm. If the Aussies can be trusted and enabled to do this, why on earth can we not? Why has the Government not accepted assistance from the technology sector and other industry experts? Why do they not look at what measures other countries are taking and learn from those? Why are we condemned to this half-life that is now unnecessary in the light of technical options that can be developed to meet the specific needs of the current situation? The MIQ system that has emphatically gone way past its use-by date should be abolished. It is a lottery of punishment and human misery.

MIQueue. Photoshopped image credit Pixy. The BFD.

Until technically supported processes and meaningful protocols are put in place for Omicron’s management in New Zealand, I will be an outcast from the country of which I am a citizen. How ironic it is that I can fly into a country of which I am not a citizen, but cannot, in the current scenario, return to my own as a citizen, voter, taxpayer, and ratepayer. 

New Zealanders are being betrayed by a power-crazed individual who has at no time had a plan to deal with Covid-19 in whichever variation it visits upon us. “Stamp it out,” her ridiculous screech. Keep watching those polls, Jacinda.

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KSK has a Master of Management degree from the University of Auckland. She has a business management background following many years in the medical field. She is a former business mentor with Business...