Yesterday I received this e-mail, that I share below in full with the author’s kind permission. And below that, I share Mr. Maywell’s response to my request to be able to share his first e-mail.
Greetings,
First of all I would like to thank you for all your work over the last few years highlighting the worldwide Covid derangement syndrome , a syndrome that is still after nearly 2 years, running wild in many countries.
Thank you for being a voice of reason and sanity in the face of overwhelming disproportionate responses and illogical decisions by politicians and bureaucrats.
I am from New Zealand, and this morning I have s been thinking of you and what you have been writing during the pandemic.
Why this morning? Well, I have spent the morning attempting to secure a place online , in what has been dubbed by opposition politicians here ‘the human misery lottery’ you see here in New Zealand no one is permitted to enter the country freely, regardless of vaccination status or negative COVID tests.
Before you book a flight, you first have to secure a place in a managed isolation and quarantine facility (MIQ), these are converted hotels run by the state.
Everyone who enters NZ must spend at least 10 days in these facilities before they are let out into the community in New Zealand .
Of course politicians and celebrities have no issues securing a place when they want.My family and I were locked into one of these last year when we returned to live in New Zealand for family reasons, after living in Chile for 9 years.
Over the next few months I need to return to Chile for a few months for business reasons, but I want to have a return date secured as I don’t want to be separated indefinitely from my wife and kids, that is why I was trying to book a room.
Today the government released 1250 rooms for March and April, the process involves one registering on the website in the hour before the lottery, the bureaucrats normally only announce a batch of places to be released 24 hours before the lottery.
I missed out today and was told I was number 3450 in the queue and to try and book a place at a later date, when they decide to release more rooms.
So , if I leave New Zealand I have no certainty of getting back in, but at least my loses are only financial.
There are currently thousands of New Zealanders stranded overseas, and have been for many many months, because there is no way back home, many of these people have run out of funds, their visas have expired in the countries where they currently are.
If New Zealanders can’t secure a place in the state quarantine prisons , they can’t travel here, the stress and toll this is taking on New Zealanders overseas is horrendous.
My best friend’s father is currently dying of lung cancer here , and my friend is in Australia with no way to get home to visit his dying father.
This morning’s lottery for a place in MIQ excluded New Zealanders currently in Australia , for logistical reasons apparently, with no indication of when more spots maybe released.
The system was supposed to be phased out over the next few months, but this has now been pushed back and nobody from our government can say for sure now when New Zealanders stuck overseas will be able to travel freely back to their home country .
Anyway, I realise this rail is getting a bit long .
I just wanted to let you know what is happening down here and that CDS is running wild amongst our political leaders, bureaucrats and ‘experts’ .
Meanwhile, the rest of the issues affecting our country are ignored and kicked down the road by our socialist government, it is a very sad state of affairs.
We have become a hermit kingdom where fear and paranoia have paralysed us.
Keep up the very important work, I always enjoy reading Cafe Hayek.
Kind Regards
Matthew Saywell
Geraldine
New Zealand.Today’s story about the lottery.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-scare-interest-in-miq-lottery-triples-but-most-lose-out/W3WHROVS5FBCBMAGTIF6Q2XLJE/
Here’s Mr. Maywell’s second e-mail:
Mr Don Boudreaux.
Thank you for your reply.
Yes, by all means feel free to share any or all of my e-mail on cafe Hayek, I don’t mind if you use my name.
I have attached another link to this mornings New Zealand herald article about yesterday’s misery lottery.
Over 15000 people applied for a room, only 12 % were successful.
Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders , mostly in Australia, are stuck offshore and are affected by this bureaucratic bungling. New Zealanders offshore have had their right to return home removed, until the state here decides go let them back and the politicians can’t say when that will happen.
Once again, thank you for providing a logical perspective, reason and balance these last couple of years, and for shining a light into the darkness and for highlighting the misery that has been created by tyrannical politicians around the world.
Kind Regards,
Matthew Saywell.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-transtasman-travel-uncertainty-and-dismay-about-miq-rooms/W22KKVAA2B467UOUAWQ5KSMZ2U/
