A man made it all the way from Perth to Northland despite travel restrictions - now an investigation is underway to find out how. But are the investigators and the investigated one and the same?
The New Zealand Government is investigating itself after a traveller was allowed to fly from Perth to Northland despite travel restrictions, circumventing MIQ.
The man arrived from Perth on April 26, despite last weekend’s travel restrictions to Western Australia.
He managed to reach New Zealand by taking a domestic flight to Sydney, before crossing the Tasman on Sunday.
Although technically arriving from outside the bubble, the traveller was allowed to continue on to Northland, where he is currently self-isolating.
Now an investigation is underway to find out what went wrong - but those responsible for the loophole may be the very same people looking into it.
New Zealand Immigration has been screening passengers from Perth to New Zealand via other Australian airports.
It became aware of the traveller’s point of origin when he arrived in Auckland, but he was allowed to continue his journey to Northland the next day.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) border manager Peter Helms said the late booking of the flight from Sydney to Auckland meant it was not alerted in time to stop the man.
“Due to the late booking of the Air New Zealand flight, no border alert was loaded before the flight departed Sydney,” he said.
INZ is helming the investigation into why the New Zealand citizen - one of a number of individuals set to arrive over the weekend - was not stopped sooner.
The Ministry of Health said this should serve as a reminder the public health response relies on accuracy, saying “The actions of one person could jeopardise quarantine-free travel with Australia for everyone.”
Travel from Western Australia was paused over the weekend after community transmission in Perth, traced to an isolation facility in the city.
The Government is set to decide whether quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and Western Australia can resume, ahead of a scheduled flight from Perth Tuesday evening.
The Ministry of Health asked anyone who has visited Perth or Peel in the last 10 days to check the list of locations of interest - then self-isolate and get tested if they have been to any of them.
It has also said the risk to New Zealand at the moment is low.
