In a small caravan in regional Western Australia, stranded Kiwi holiday-maker Ashley Smith is hunched over his laptop screen.<\/p>\n
\"This is it, let the hunger games begin,\" he says to himself.<\/p>\n
Mr Smith is desperate to secure a place for himself and his wife, Kerry, in the New Zealand Government's hotel quarantine system through a controversial online lottery system.<\/p>\n
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\"I've had to get up at 4am so I could enter the lottery. Even in my own mind, I knew I would fail,\" Mr Smith told A Current Affair.<\/p>\n
Mr Smith is one of the thousands of so-called grounded Kiwis, stranded Down Under by Jacinda Ardern's strict government border measures.<\/p>\n
\"We are like a black plague on the outside trying to get back in,\" Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n
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Mareta Cardwell and her husband Sio moved out of their Sydney home, withdrew their kids from school, and sold the car to be closer to family in Christchurch.<\/p>\n
But they've been stonewalled by the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) lottery system which only offers up 4500 places every week for around 30,000 hopefuls.<\/p>\n
\"It is like you see on the TV as far as numbers all jumble up and a ball comes out and that's your number,\" Ms Cardwell said.<\/p>\n
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Some personal tales are harrowing, with New Zealanders either holidaying or living overseas unable to return home to be with dying family members, or to be part of milestone moments.<\/p>\n
Last month the situation was made even worse when NZ stopped the lottery system altogether amid the Omicron scare.<\/p>\n
No one has any idea when a new prized tranche of quarantine spots will be offered up next.<\/p>\n
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\"There's meant to be an announcement in late February, but they are not going to announce you can come,\" Mr Cardwell said.<\/p>\n
Ninety per cent of New Zealanders are vaccinated and just eight people with the virus are in hospital.<\/p>\n
Ms Ardern's tough stance to combat COVID-19 has been described as draconian and dysfunctional.<\/p>\n
\"The fact is there is day after day, there are too many areas where this is a demonstrable failure,\" former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told A Current Affair.<\/p>\n
The lockout has triggered unprecedented legal action.<\/p>\n
The \"Grounded Kiwis\" group has raised over $180,000 to take the NZ Government to court in a last-ditch bid to cross the ditch. <\/p>\n
\"We are alleging the way they have operated the system amounts to a breach of the bill or rights', Grounded Kiwis spokesperson Alexandra Birt said.<\/p>\n
The case is due to be heard in the High Court on February 14 and 15.<\/p>\n
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Kiwis stranded in Australia resort to legal action against NZ Government - 9Homes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a small caravan in regional Western Australia, stranded Kiwi holiday-maker Ashley Smith is hunched over his laptop screen. \"This is it, let the hunger games begin,\" he says to himself. Mr Smith is desperate to secure a place for himself and his wife, Kerry, in the New Zealand Government's hotel quarantine system through a controversial online lottery system Continue reading