Labour MP David Parker is defending the Government's border rules after Ashley Bloomfield said they were at odds with the new isolation rules.
New Zealand moved to phase 3 of the Government's Omicron response plan last night which means significant changes to isolation. Now only household contacts of cases need to isolate - all other contacts just need to monitor their symptoms.
But this rule seems at odds with border rules. From February 28, fully vaccinated Kiwis in Australia will be able to skip managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) but they must self-isolate for seven days.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told AM he's made the Government aware of the discrepancy.
"We've given some initial advice pointing out exactly what you've said - that actually the public health risk is higher here in the community with what has become quite a rapidly growing Omicron outbreak, compared with those people coming across the border," he said on Friday.
But speaking with AM later, Labour MP David Parker said the Government is reviewing the rules but they don't make decisions overnight.
"You're right that these issues do need to be kept under review but, of course, that risk equation between Australia and New Zealand has only just changed."
When asked by AM co-host Ryan Bridge whether the Government will meet today to discuss changing the border rules, Parker said no.
"We don't meet daily."
Parker also said self-isolation is much better compared with MIQ.
"They're being asked to self-isolate at home for a period of seven days, they were asked to go into MIQ until very recently you can see that we are progressively relaxing things as it is safe to do so. We take these decisions promptly but we don't take them overnight."
Parker's explanation drew frustration from National MP Simon Bridges who joined him on the show.
"What's the point then because these things move in real-time whether it's Ukraine or whether it's the issue you're raising - the Government just doesn't have any sense of urgency," Bridges said.
"The numbers are clear - 6000 community cases and seven or eight at the border. If you're a vaccinated Kiwi you should be able to come home, no ifs or buts without having to isolate. You're less risk than most Kiwis here at the moment."
It comes after community cases hit an all-time high on Thursday with a whopping 6137 new cases and 205 people in hospital. In comparison, just eight new cases were found at the border.
