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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
A British family of sailors was allowed in and begged to come to New Zealand after their son’s death.
Barbara Genda, Harry Jarman and their two children were sailing the world when tragedy struck in Tahiti, with the death of their 14-year-old son Eddie in August.
His application to sail to New Zealand on humanitarian grounds was recently rejected.
Supplied
Barbara Genda, Harry Jarman and their two sons were allowed to enter New Zealand.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health told RNZ that the family’s request to come to New Zealand for the purpose of delivering them to a company had been successful.
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“They met the criteria for this and the Director General of Health granted them an exemption on November 2.”
The family wanted to sell the yacht before returning to the UK, where they planned to restart their lives.
The buoyancy of the market in New Zealand and associated boat maintenance infrastructure was one reason the family wanted to bring the yacht here.
Auckland racer Conrad Gair, with whom the luxury yacht is listed, recently said that yachts that would traditionally sail here for sale were not allowed under current border restrictions, and New Zealand was missing out.
“If you come to New Zealand and you sell to a New Zealander, there are taxes and the taxes go into the system. There could be a brokerage fee, repair work on the ship and things for other trades in our industry.”
New Zealand had not closed its border to goods or trade; imports and exports could continue to operate on the same basis as before Covid-19.
The family was currently in Tahiti, which Gair said was an enormously attractive boating area, but not ideal for trying to sell a boat.
