I share your frustration

Hi everyone,

I have been actively monitoring twitter on the daily and witnessed numerous tweets from Kiwis abroad expressing the impossible task of securing an allocation.

Generally every time a date becomes available, hundreds of kiwis (if not thousands) are competing to secure it. It’s hard to see Kiwis expressing their hardships with valid reasons for wanting to return home only to have MIQ acting as the only barrier from seeing their loved ones anytime soon.

Our current system has proven to fail at providing a fair service to Kiwis around the world. The website was designed primarily with government in mind, without much consideration for Kiwis using the site on a daily basis.

Recent news article reveals that MIQ doesn’t cater to the visually impaired which is found to be discriminatory. Additionally, seafarers outside of New Zealand waters have a much harder time than those traveling by air.

A number of New Zealand news media have put pressure on the government to review the system. Some have mentioned a lottery system, another mentioned a transparent and communicative method. There is also the idea of just simply matching number of rooms available to seats on arriving flights.

The New Zealand government is blessed with an abundance of intelligent problem solvers, they should be able to come up with a practical solution. Tech-savvy Kiwis are stepping up to help fellow New Zealanders online. It should not have come to this.

I encourage you to share this petition to your friends and family. When a person signs, an email is sent to those with the position and power to make a difference. I understand how frequent change.org sends you emails and that can be annoying so I’ll keep my updates to a minimum. Thanks to those who have signed and shared this petition, and I sincerely hope that we’ll see a major improvement soon.

If you are at it everyday on the MIQ website, I share your frustration and I wholeheartedly hope that you’ll get your shot at seeing your loved ones soon. Kia kaha.

Yours sincerely,

Ricky