Former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has apologized to New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis for comments made regarding her MIQ candidacy.
Charlotte Bellis
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Former Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has apologized to Charlotte Bellis for comments made regarding her candidacy for MIQ.
Hipkins said he wrote to the New Zealand reporter to apologize for errors in comments he made earlier this year and for the inclusion of personal information.
The journalist went public with her struggle to get a place at MIQ to return from Afghanistan during her pregnancy.
Hipkins previously refused to apologize for his comments on his case.
In January, he said emergency MIQ requests required someone to travel to New Zealand within 14 days.
Chris Hipkins
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
This morning he released a statement saying there were exceptions and that Bellis’ MIQ app was mistakenly disabled.
Hipkins also said the pregnant reporter was offered consular assistance twice in Afghanistan in early December.
In fact, she was offered some in August, before she was pregnant, and in December, while she was in Europe.
Bellis was finally able to return to New Zealand in March.
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