Holiday commuters queue in the northbound lanes of the Northern Gateway Toll Road. Photo / NZME
Holiday commuters queue in the northbound lanes of the Northern Gateway Toll Road. Photo / NZME
Thousands of vehicles flooded into Northland on the eve of last month's level 4 lockdown, figures obtained by deputy opposition leader Shane Reti show.
The numbers — obtained from the automated toll station north of Auckland — confirm reports by Bream Bay residents and Taitokerau Border Control coordinator Rueben Taipari of bumper-to-bumper traffic crossing the Brynderwyns and streaming north on State Highway 1 at Ruakākā.
While those who fled north in the hours after the lockdown was announced on August 17 and before it came into force at 11.59pm weren't technically breaking the law, they were acting against instructions to stay home, Reti said.
No only did they bring extra risk to Northland they also placed a huge burden on essential services.
The figures show 4236 vehicles travelled north between 6pm and 11.59pm on August 17, just 920 of which had a registered address in Northland. That means 3316 were from Auckland or further south.
In the same period the previous Tuesday 1372 vehicles headed north, of which 207 were registered to Northland addresses and 1165 were not.
In other words the number of vehicles heading to Northland — excluding Northlanders heading home — was almost three times higher than the previous Tuesday.
Reti, a Whangārei-based MP who is also National's health spokesman, conceded some of those vehicles may have been heading to Wellsford, Mahurangi or other destinations within the Auckland region.
However, assuming 2000 travelled across the border with an average occupancy of 2.5 people per vehicle, a typical figure for longer trips, that meant an exodus of 5000 people.
National deputy leader Shane Reti is demanding to know why nothing was done to stop an exodus from Auckland on the eve of level 4 lockdown. Photo / Bevan Conley
''My concern is that they brought the Auckland risk, and they brought it into a region which has pockets which are less able to cope with that risk. It also placed a huge extra burden on Northland infrastructure including supermarkets, health and police. Pharmacies told me they had 60 per cent more out-of-district prescriptions. That's a lot of extra work.''
The fact the Delta variant had not been detected in Northland was down to luck rather than good management, he said.
''We've dodged a bullet,'' Reti said.
Reti was also concerned the exodus may have kept Northland at level 4 longer than the rest of the country apart from Auckland.
Now he was demanding answers from the Government about why nothing was done to stop holidaymakers heading north as soon as the lockdown was announced at 6pm.
Under questioning in Parliament yesterday Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins conceded the Auckland exodus had put Northland at extra risk, but he did not think it was the key factor in extending Northland's level 4 lockdown.
Hipkins also said the Government was looking at ways of tightening up the legislation if there was a next time.
The MP said more education was needed to inform people of the risks of fleeing to holiday homes before a lockdown.
The Government also needed to bring in measures for the transition period between a lockdown being announced and coming into force.
Yesterday's revelations prompted a rare agreement between Reti and Taitokerau Border Control founder Hone Harawira.
Taitokerau Border Control founder Hone Harawira accused the Government of leaving the ‘‘door wide open, allowing the privileged few to flee Auckland like rats from a burning ship’’. Photo / Tania Whyte
The former Taitokerau MP said he was grateful to Reti for confirming what his people knew to be true.
Harawira said the Government had ''left the door wide open, allowing the privileged few to flee Auckland like rats from a burning ship, bringing their plague with them, putting a huge burden on our meagre medical, iwi, community and police resources, putting the lives of our vulnerable and unvaccinated Māori communities at risk''.
Unless iwi were allowed to partner with police on Auckland's northern border next time it happened, iwi would ''slam that door shut'' themselves.
Harawira's claim that Delta was present in the North as a result of the Auckland exodus was, however, refuted by a Ministry of Health spokesperson who said there had been no cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant detected in Northland to date.
