National leader Judith Collins has welcomed the news Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit Auckland next week .
The prime minister has agreed to visit the region after a change to isolation rules at Parliament.
Previously, Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard said MPs who have travelled to Alert Level 3 areas must provide a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours before returning to Wellington, then test negative again after self-isolating for five days before returning to Parliament.
Now, MPs will no longer have to self-isolate, but instead produce a negative Covid test. The test must have been taken not less than 72 hours before they leave a Level 3 area.
Both Collins and ACT leader David Seymour had been calling for Ardern to visit Auckland, which is in its 12th week of lockdown.
Seymour said the prime minister's visit would be "long overdue", remarking that if she sees, hears and feels what he did last week, that it would "seriously change her perspective".
"There are things you understand looking people in the eye that you don’t get on a zoom screen.
"People are hurting, don’t have faith in the roadmap to the traffic light system, and want certainty more than anything else."
National's leader says the prime minister needs to see small business people while she's in the region. (Source: Other)
Speaking to Breakfast on Wednesday, Collins said Ardern's upcoming visit was a "good idea" and said Mallard "strangely" changing the isolation rules "works out well for her".
National's leader said the prime minister needed to see some small business people in the region and felt that after a three month absence, Aucklanders would be "pleased to see her".
"Let's make sure Jacinda Ardern has a good time in Auckland."
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