Vance calls for Covid Commission of Inquiry

Andrea Vance writes:

How did Covid-19 get in? Was elimination the right strategy? Did we go too far, or not far enough? In protecting the vulnerable, did we condemn others to a future of ill-health, poor mental health, poverty and misery?

As important as the economy, is surely the health system. Why could it not cope? Even after two years, and high rates of vaccination, how is it that we cannot rely on it?

There are judgements to be made. Even before the pandemic, the cracks were evident: staff shortages, dilapidated facilities, treatment delays, and poor cancer survival rates.

Governments allowed our most vital service to be run down. It failed us – so how do we rebuild it? And how can we ensure our essential workforce is no longer undervalued?

Were there mistakes in policymaking – from mask wearing to modelling? Why was the vaccine roll-out so slow – and who should be held to account? And should Rapid Antigen Tests – or RATs – have been prohibited? What really happened with the provision of PPE to healthline workers? …

here are legitimate questions about our preparedness for Omicron. Why were services like rubbish collection allowed to grind to a halt? Did officials not anticipate there would be huge demand for passports as international travel resumed? And could LINZ not have predicted and prepared for staff shortages, instead leaving newly built homes standing empty in a housing crisis?

Should officials, and retailers, have better anticipated that our delicate supply chains would come under extreme stress?

Did we fritter away our rights and freedoms too easily? And did our checks and balances hold up – did the Opposition hold ministers to account? Was the media too compliant – did we question enough, or challenge too much?

Public inquiries are a part of the machinery of government.

We’ve had Royal Commissions investigate the Pike River disaster, the Canterbury earthquakes, the March 15 terror attack, and abuse in state care.

It seems logical that we hold the highest form of official inquiry into an event that saw the death of more than 1000 New Zealanders.

It should be unthinkable that a pandemic which has killed over 1,000 New Zealanders, has cost over $50 billion and led to unparalleled restrictions on freedoms is not the subject of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.