If you were in any doubt as to whether this government literally makes things up as it goes along, then yesterday’s example of yet another flip flop hammers home their modus operandi.

Knee jerk reactions, followed by back downs.

The border patrol around Auckland went form the sublime to the ridiculous real fast.  From starting with having to have proof you’re an essential worker via letter from your employer, or ID, you then overnight suddenly had to have exemptions signed off by the Ministry of Health.

Problem with that was, the Ministry Of Health, already overloaded with tasks, was then inundated with exemption applications.

How did they not see that coming? Who would know.

Before they knew it, they had more than 10,000 exemption applications. Upshot was, people were waiting days for exemptions just so they could get in or either out of Auckland for work, for medical treatment, or to feed animals.

Let’s not forget the 2 and a half million bees who were collateral damage in this fiasco: when the beekeepers weren’t allowed across the border to tend the hives, the bees all died.

There was story after story coming through on all the outrageous hold ups for exemptions, and how impossible working life had become thanks to a border force resembling something Trump would’ve been proud of.

It was intense, applicants complained the Ministry was too slow to process exemptions, people were infuriated, bees were dying.

Then yesterday, we got the inevitable back down. The flip flop, the thing this government has become famous for, the old ‘whoops we got that wrong’ moment.

Let’s face it, delivery is not their strong suit.

So yesterday the exemptions are changed: two avenues for them now cancelled. You no longer need an exemption for work or medical treatment. You now can cross the border with proof of departure or destination for work. You can also now travel in and out of Auckland for hospital treatment, with just some ID and proof of an appointment.

Seems almost too logical and simple to have ever been in question in the first place, but this is what happens when a Ministry and a Minister get overloaded and can’t keep up. Mistakes happen. And those mistakes are getting costly.  They’re also getting too common.

When you’re running for re-election on your Covid response, and you’ve gone so far as to call this a ‘Covid Election’, you really need to make sure you’re handling of it actually delivers something people can trust.

And when the goalposts keep shifting, because the rules keep changing, because the people in charge keep changing their mind, it’s hard to feel like this is being handled well at all.