Well it resulted in one of the lowest restrictions on people in any country besides international travel. Giving people freedom to meet people and work is good
Auckland previously had a very strict lockdown based on very low case numbers relative to the rest of the world.
Of course there is the argument that if we didn't have such restrictions we wouldn't have dealt with COVID as well, but even taking that into account I think the government has been very conservative.
Other countries have much longer/stronger restrictions, but they have also had much more severe outbreaks.
The government seems to be very slow to come around on changing their COVID strategy, especially given that the stakes are pretty low in NZ relative to other countries.
I think the perfect time would be when effective oral anti-virals are readily available, they are just around the corner. The average daily cases are increasing and the 4th/5th wave (depending on location) is ramping up now - exactly the wrong time for a country like NZ to change international quarantine.