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Cameron Burnell / Stuff
The United States Ambassador, Scott Brown.
The US government paid for the US ambassador to New Zealand Scott Brown and his wife to fly domestically in New Zealand on a private jet to avoid going into quarantine at the border, documents show.
Almost everyone who returns to New Zealand must spend 14 days in an army-guarded hotel as part of the strict strategy to avoid the coronavirus. But the Browns were able to use their special status as diplomats to avoid staying in a hotel and instead isolated themselves at their home in Wellington.
ROBERT KITCHEN / Things
The United States Ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown, at an American election party.
The special treatment from the Browns has upset many. Documents delivered to The Associated Press According to official information, the laws show that the case was discussed by senior officials and legislators and was not resolved until days before his return.
The Browns returned to New Zealand in late August after spending a month in the United States on what the ambassador described as a “working vacation.”
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After arriving at Auckland Airport, the Browns made their way to a private tarmac and left for Wellington on a chartered plane, documents show. That was because regular domestic flights cannot be used by newcomers who could be carrying the virus.
US officials did not immediately provide the cost of the flight, although a charter operator said such a trip would typically cost between $ 10,000 and $ 20,000.
Cameron Burnell / Stuff
American Ambassador Scott Brown with his wife Gail Huff-Brown.
The US embassy in New Zealand said Wednesday that the flight was paid for by the US embassy and the US State Department, freed up hotel space for returning New Zealanders and was cost-effective.
“As the Browns were at home, the American taxpayer saved the cost of per diem and other expenses that they would otherwise be entitled to claim,” the embassy wrote in an email.
The documents indicate that the discussion about the couple’s return began in June, when Brown wrote an email to New Zealand officials saying: “I need to be sure that I will be able to get in my car and drive home and isolate myself.”
The ambassador added: “It would be problematic for me to do my job in a hotel.”
Brown told authorities that he and his wife, Gail, would make sure to test negative for the virus in the United States before returning.
New Zealand officials responded that top lawmakers in the government cabinet were discussing what to do with diplomats, who they cannot force to quarantine due to their special status under the Vienna Convention, and “we hope we are close to the decision point on these issues. “
But the uncertainty would drag on for weeks.
Nick Perry / AP
The United States Ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown.
An initial plan had the ambassador completing his two-week quarantine in Auckland at the home of the United States Consul General. A second plan had Brown driving the eight-hour trip back to Wellington.
“We will place your vehicle at the airport with additional food, water and fuel and organize a ‘contactless’ key handover,” US officials wrote in an email.
In the end, US officials told their counterparts that they preferred to book a charter flight. Brown wrote that he had obtained approval of the plan from Washington.
“I am hopeful that this logical and robust plan can be approved so that we can start moving the balls to make it happen,” Brown wrote Aug. 20 from the US, just a week before his return.
The next day, New Zealand officials wrote to say that the Health Ministry had approved the plan.
“Exceptional!” a US official responded.
Brown, a former Republican senator from Massachusetts, has close ties to US President Donald Trump and was once considered a possible running mate. Brown and his wife plan to return to the United States permanently in the coming weeks, where Brown will assume a new role as president and dean of the New England law school in Boston.
