Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

National MP: Social distancing rules from 'St Jacinda' are rubbish

David Fisher
By David Fisher
Senior writer·NZ Herald·
20 May, 2020 02:40 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Northland MP Matt King - third from left - with parents Joe and Jen and staff of Paihia's Green restaurant. Photo / Supplied

Northland MP Matt King - third from left - with parents Joe and Jen and staff of Paihia's Green restaurant. Photo / Supplied

A National Party MP posed for a close photograph with family and restaurant staff just days after level 2 Covid-19 restrictions began, then told those who challenged him: "I'm over the BS coming out of this Government."

Northland MP Matt King doubled down on his online statements when contacted, telling the Herald: "The social distancing - I think it's just rubbish now. We should be back to normal, people doing their thing, now."

Northland MP Matt King - third from left - with parents Joe and Jen and staff of Paihia's Green restaurant. Photo / Supplied
Northland MP Matt King - third from left - with parents Joe and Jen and staff of Paihia's Green restaurant. Photo / Supplied

King's photograph drew heat on Facebook after he posted the image of himself with parents Joe and Jen - who are part of his bubble - out celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary at Green restaurant in Paihia over the weekend.

It drew an immediate response from one person who congratulated King's parents on their anniversary but asked: "Shame you don't keep to the rules, or is your photo op more important than the one or two metre rules."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

King told the Herald the food at Green - which serves Indian and Thai cuisine on Paihia's waterfront - was great and the service tremendous.

READ MORE:
• Anarchy or lifesavers? Face-to-face at the Covid roadblocks
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Fresh bungle on roadblock - and it's come from the top
• Top cop flip-flop on claims police present at virus roadblocks
• State Highway 1 blocked as iwi halt travellers to protect community
• Cancelled - the 1pm Ashley Bloomfield show
• Ashley Bloomfield's rise to the top - the inside story

"The guy serving us was the guy standing next to me," he said.

The Ministry of Health advice is restaurants "have customers seated" and "keep groups of attendees separated one metre apart".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Restaurant Association of NZ advises members to "ensure that all people who enter the workplace or use its services remain two metres away from each other and from staff".

When challenged over clustering for a photograph, King said: "We're both adults. He chose to stand with me. Sometimes a little bit of life experience and logical thought and grown up thinking about things … I just think the social distancing stuff at the stage we are at now is over the top.

"We haven't had any new cases in Northland for a month. I'm just using my brain as an adult and he was too. We're not Nazi Germany."

In a separate post, King's support for changing funeral rules also drew a sharp response. He told one: "You are blind at the altar of St Jacinda."

King told the Herald "some decisions made lack logic and compassion", highlighting the case of the woman who travelled from Australia to see her dying mother but wound up in quarantine.

As for his comments on Ardern, he said: "Some people make comments as if she can do no wrong." He said there were some who seemed to believe that questioning the Prime Minister was almost treasonous.

Northland MP Matt King says social distancing is not needed in Northland. Photo / Supplied
Northland MP Matt King says social distancing is not needed in Northland. Photo / Supplied

Restaurant manager Amardeep Singh said he and others had posed with King because the MP had asked for a photograph to record the occasion.

"We are doing social distancing. We are doing sanitising and taking contact details."

King has volunteered during the lockdown, delivering food parcels to vulnerable people in his local community.

He has also been vocal on the issue of roadblocks across the North, in which - in some places - local, remote communities particularly affected by the 1918 flu epidemic controlled access to their villages.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A former police officer and small business owner, King entered politics at the last election after dramatically tipping NZ First leader Winston Peters out of the Northland electorate.

The Ministry of Health has been approached for comment.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

Northern Advocate

Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi
Northern Advocate

'Economic growth is key': Luxon discusses Northland's potential with iwi

The PM praised Māori businesses for investing and creating jobs despite challenges.

17 Jul 06:02 AM
Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime
Northern Advocate

Northland businesses unite for CCTV initiative to combat crime

17 Jul 04:00 AM
Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe
Northern Advocate

Two charged with neglect 10 years after 4yo's death in Kaikohe

17 Jul 02:17 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP