Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says terminally ill man Trevor Ponting, who was initially denied a spot in a managed isolation facility , should’ve been given a place from the get-go on compassionate grounds.
Ponting, who is in Japan, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in late 2019. He planned to spend his last days with loved ones in Christchurch, but found out on Friday he was denied a place in MIQ.
His sister Yvonne Ponting said authorities told her Trevor’s situation wasn’t urgent enough.
Yesterday, after the story had been widely reported, Ponting was given an MIQ spot.
Hipkins said today he was “somewhat surprised” when he saw reports Ponting’s emergency application for an MIQ spot wasn’t immediately granted.
“It didn’t, strictly speaking, meet the criteria. But, there were compassionate grounds to grant that particular case,” Hipkins said.
Teenager Batu Waite, known as Rocky, has been stuck in Indonesia for over a year.
A review mechanism was triggered, which then eventually granted Ponting his spot, he added.
He said the review mechanism was the “best defence” against cases like Ponting’s falling through the cracks.
Hipkins said emergency allocation requests were done by an independent group to ensure the process was fair.
“It shouldn’t depend who you know.”
There have been 1642 emergency applications to travel to New Zealand since October. Of those, 609 were approved. In the past week, 54 per cent of applications have been declined.
The application process and grounds for exemption are on the MIQ website .
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