The government's announcement yesterday removing vaccine pass requirements, most vaccine mandates, QR scanning, and outdoor gathering limits, has been celebrated by many New Zealanders, who are keen to resume social activities and a return to pre-Covid normality.
However, people still need to be seated separately indoors, and the hospitality industry says this is a major issue.
Paula Collier, Nō Whakatōhea, Te Arawa and Ngāti Porou, from KaiCaffAye, a Māori-owned eatery, that celebrates kai Māori in Rotorua, joined Te Ao Tapatahi to discuss how the last two years have impacted business owners like her and how these new rules affect the industry.
Collier said to stay afloat during this difficult time she had to borrow a lot of money. “The past four months have been the most difficult in business” but says, ”I still have my business, I’m still open and I still have staff.”
“If I could have closed the doors and walked away, I would have.”
We are Māori, that’s what we do
Collier thinks the process for businesses to recover and customers to return will be slow. “With everything going on, Rotorua has just become really slow in the hospitality industry and it's not something that I’m getting really excited about because, the minute you do, it gets taken away”.
“You can’t count on what’s being said until it’s actually done.”
Collier explained that Rotorua was starting to find its feet a recover just before the Government introduced the Covid mandates which Collier says was a “Huge blow as a small Maori business, I’m not sure what opening the borders is going to do till it actually happens”.
Collier reflected on her hardships during the pandemic and suggested the government handled small businesses with a lack of empathy and support as businesses struggled:“ These are the rules, follow the rules, you must comply.”
“For the first time in my life, I felt a snippet of what my tipuna felt when we were being colonised and being told what we had to do. That didn’t put me in a very good place”
Collier said throughout this pandemic she had had an amazing support system. “I’d say my whanau and team have been amazing and that’s what it’s about.”
“We have made it through some really low lows and I’m proud of my partner and my whanau. We are Māori, that’s what we do.”