A former member of the Gloriavale community says police need to be doing more to enforce the level 4 coronavirus lockdown there.
Reports emerged last week of members of the community breaching the lockdown, with large gatherings taking place.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, former member Beulah Harrison said she had phoned her mother, who still lives there, and told her about the lockdown, because she had not been told of it by Gloriavale's leadership.
Her mother had been working with children, and Ms Harrison said "oh Mum, did you know the Government has closed all the schools and centres for the protection of New Zealand?
"Oh no, we haven't been told that," Ms Harrison said.
"Everything is completely censored - you have no access to radio, no access to telly, no access to the internet, you have no access to information from the outside."
A support trust has been established as three more big families have left the community for a better life.
Liz Gregory of the Gloriavale Leavers Trust said various reports had been received of Gloriavale members breaking isolation rules.
Those included members of the community having "appointments in Nelson region" and that someone had rejoined the community as recently as Friday from the outside.
"I know that they have had contact with people who have travelled from the Bay of Plenty mid last week.
"If they're making a claim that they're a safe little bubble and we should just let them continue working and going to school and meeting as a group of 600 - we have concerns," Ms Gregory said.
"They don't know they haven't got it (Covid-19) and they do have options to provide their people with safer housing.
"They won't do what it takes, they won't put their people in camper vans, they won't split their hostels up into smaller groups because that would mean their whole regime will crumble - they're not able to keep control."
Ms Harrison said Gloriavale's leadership had an attitude of disobeying laws they didn't agree with, or thinking the laws didn't apply to them.
"We are above the law because we believe in God," she said.
"I'd like the Government and the police to go in and say you are not going to put the whole of New Zealand in jeopardy."
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