In the wake of the New Zealand Government’s backflip on allowing maintenance of Golf Courses during the Level 4 Lockdown period, National Party Spokesperson for Sport and Recreation Nikki Kaye said that without the combined support of the clubs and members from across New Zealand the decision to change the essential service’s rules may not have been made.
“I want to thank NZ Golf, all of the clubs and members that fought hard for a reasonable decision,” Hon Nikki Kaye said.
“I have been working with NZ Golf and other clubs to try and put pressure on the government.
“Ultimately I didn’t think the decisions stacked up. A huge number of clubs have one person who lives on site.
“The scale of damage to clubs would have been very unfair. Post lockdown we need people to be able to get out and about and play sports like golf.”
As part of pressure placed on the Government to make a decision, Kaye organised a petition which was only starting to gather steam when the backflip occurred by Minister Roberston.
“I wrote to the Minister around a week ago regarding this. Thank you to everyone who signed the petition. It was an epic 24 hours with more than 3500 people (Currently at 4,400).
“I want to acknowledge Dean from NZ Golf for his hard work through this period.
“We need to value sport and recreation. We are entering one of the toughest periods in history for sport and recreation and we need to do everything possible to support clubs.
“I will be working with central and local government, organisations and athletes over this period to ensure we have the best possible plan to get through this.”
By Friday afternoon no guidance had been provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) as to the rules surrounding the maintenance that is expected to begin again on Tuesday following the Easter weekend.
