Auckland-based MPs who moved to Wellington when lockdown hit are all staying put during recess, with the exception of one senior minister, writes political editor Jo Moir
Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, has a fortnight to see what happens with Auckland’s alert level changes before having to decide once more what restrictions to enforce at Parliament.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden warned that even if a decision is made on Monday to move Auckland to Level 2, the boundary around the super city would remain intact.
"With the outbreak as it stands, yes, we are giving full consideration to easing but there's a number of ways that we can consider that ... what is not in consideration presently is the idea of removing that regional boundary at this time," she said at today's daily Covid-19 briefing.
"It causes a huge amount of work for managing the boundary safely and also a huge amount of stress and anxiety for those who are separated ... but it needs to be safe,'' Ardern said.
"At the moment we do have control of the outbreak in Auckland but still have an outbreak, so we will continue to assess the role of the regional boundary as we go but at the moment it is not one of the things that I expect to be lifted on Monday."
That means regional travel in and out of Auckland may still be banned by the time Parliament resumes on October 19. Cabinet is doing another alert level review of Auckland on Monday afternoon.
Political parties spoken to by Newsroom have all agreed MPs would stay put in Auckland until any boundary restriction lifted.
Five MPs who normally reside in Auckland set up camp in Wellington during lockdown and will keep the capital as their home base during the school holiday recess.
“I haven’t had any discussions with the Speaker or indeed my own party on that – just after seven weeks, you know, there’s an obligation to my own family.'' – David Parker, Attorney-General
National’s leader Judith Collins, ACT leader David Seymour, Defence Minister Peeni Henare and Ardern won’t return to Auckland.
Senior Cabinet Minister David Parker was in Dunedin when Delta hit and made his way to Wellington to work out of Parliament during lockdown and in the weeks since.
He normally resides in Auckland and made the decision on Friday to head back to see family after almost seven weeks separated.
“I haven’t had any discussions with the Speaker or indeed my own party on that – just after seven weeks, you know, there’s an obligation to my own family,’’ Parker told Newsroom.
Asked if he’s resigned to working from Auckland if there aren’t any level or boundary changes, Parker said “what will be will be’’.
He told Newsroom the job is made more difficult working remotely from Auckland.
“I stayed out [of Auckland] because I know how hard it is to do it from here …but, you know, life’s a balance and we’ve got duties to people other than ourselves,’’ he said.
MPs are essential workers and permitted to travel during all alert levels.
But the Labour Party, National, ACT and the Greens, which all have Auckland-based MPs, have decided while regional travel isn’t allowed for Aucklanders, their MPs will stay away from Parliament.
The Speaker has been enforcing a 14-day rule for staff and media on the Parliament precinct, whereby anyone who has visited Auckland has to stay away for two weeks before returning.
Mallard has no ability to stop MPs from coming to Parliament or attending the chamber.
He told Newsroom he has had no issues since the Delta outbreak with Auckland MPs trying to return to Wellington.
Collins arrived in Wellington after Level 4 lockdown had already kicked in, and Mallard imposed tighter restrictions on the precinct, including limited numbers in offices and the House, as a result.
Collins has stayed out of Auckland ever since.
In the second week of recess Mallard will seek public health advice from the Ministry of Health about what level of restrictions are required at Parliament.
If any MPs from Auckland choose to return while a regional boundary is still in place, Mallard will ask for advice as to what restrictions they’ll need to adhere to, along with any staff they engage with.
That could mean a tiered system in Parliament, but Mallard told Newsroom MPs “have been very cooperative to date’’.
No decisions will be made until mid-October and Mallard said any restrictions would be for one week ahead at a time.
Mallard is also working on a plan of how to deal with unvaccinated staff, journalists, and members of the public at Parliament in the future.
“It might be a requirement that if it’s a job that can be done from outside the building then an unvaccinated staffer do that,'' he told Newsroom last month.
Public tours only take place at Level 1 so Mallard says it will be some time before they’re back, which means there’s time to work out how to assess who is and isn’t vaccinated.
“I think eventually we are going to require people who come to do the visitor tours, who are above a certain age, to be vaccinated,'' he said at the time.
