When charges for Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) were introduced in August 2020, Cabinet’s policy intent was that Australian citizens and permanent residents who were ordinarily resident in New Zealand would have the same liability for charges as New Zealand citizens and residents. All other Australians were expected to be liable for charges under the provisions in the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Managed Isolation and Quarantine Charges) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) related to temporary entry class visa holders, including other critical workers and critical health workers.

However, because of New Zealand’s special relationship with Australia, Australian citizens’ and permanent residents’ status is generally converted to a resident class visa when they enter New Zealand, regardless of the visa that they travel on. This visa-conversion process creates a technical issue where some Australians may have been charged an MIQ fee for which it could be argued that there was no lawful authority to charge.

This Bill validates the imposition and collection of specified charges under the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 and provides for their lawful collection going forward. In particular, the Bill—

• retrospectively validates the imposition and collection of specified MIQ charges by inserting a new provision that provides that an Australian citizen or permanent resident was validly and lawfully charged if they arrived in New Zealand under a temporary entry class visa, including those who travelled on a border exception as a critical health worker or other critical worker in the period starting on 11 August 2020 and ending on the commencement of this Bill:

• amends the Regulations to provide that the relevant visa status or border exception in determining whether a person is a “specified person” for the purposes of regulation 6(1)(a) is the visa status or border exception they held upon arrival in New Zealand (as opposed to entry).

The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Bill. The disclosure statement provides access to information about the policy development of the Bill and identifies any significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill.

A copy of the statement can be found at http://legislation.govt.nz/disclosure.aspx?type=bill&subtype=government&year=2021&no=42

A regulatory impact statement is not required for this Bill.