There are over 14,000 people who stayed in MIQ prior to 24 March 2021 who still haven’t been invoiced, says National’s COVID-19 Spokesperson Chris Bishop.

“Figures released to me through written questions reveal that “around 14,366” returnees are still to be invoiced for stays in MIQ prior to 24 March 2021. In addition there are approximately 7,759 returnees for whom officials have not yet been able to determine whether, or how much, they should be charged.

“These are incredible figures and reveal what a complete shambles the MIQ system is. The total liability owed to taxpayers is approximately $36.2 million.

“Only a Labour government could set up a system that is so badly designed there are thousands of people who still haven’ been invoiced for stays 6 and even 9 months ago. Even more incredibly there are thousands of people the government doesn’t even know whether to charge or not!

“This is incompetence on a grand scale and we need answers from the Government as to why the system is so shambolic. MIQ was set up in a hurry so some teething problems could be expected, but it’s now been running for 18 months.

“One industry that has experience in booking and billing systems, invoicing and extracting money out of people is the hotel industry – who the Government has actually partnered with in running the MIQ system. For reasons best known only to Labour, the Government decided to run the booking and billing themselves – and now we have a royal mess.

“These figures are emblematic of Labour’s incompetent management of MIQ generally. What a shambles.”