What we know about the Government's Covid-19 inquiry

The new coalition government has announced an independent, ‘full scale’ probe into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic – also including the use of multiple lockdowns, and vaccine efficacy, it says.
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New Zealand’s new Government says it will carry out a “full scale, wide-ranging, independent inquiry” into how the Covid-19 pandemic was handled in Aotearoa.

The National Party and New Zealand First coalition agreement document outlines that it will ensure “as a matter of urgency” that the inquiry is established and completed.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry process is already underway.

The agreement document states the Government’s inquiry will cover:

• use of multiple lockdowns
• vaccine procurement and efficacy
• the social and economic impacts on both regional and national levels
• whether the decisions made, and steps taken, were justified

It also states the inquiry would be conducted publicly with local and international experts.

In December 2022, the then-Labour Government announced the appointment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to look at the lessons learned from Aotearoa’s Covid-19 response that should be applied in preparation for any future pandemic.

It was stated that the inquiry would cover decisions on the border, community care, isolation, quarantine, as well as the economic response, from February 2020 to October 2022.

A Royal Commission is the most serious response to an issue available to the New Zealand Government, to investigate matters of great importance and difficulty.

Commissioner, Professor Tony Blakely​, earlier said New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 was strong compared with other countries “but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reflect on what was done and why”.

At the time, it was announced the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 Lessons Learned (Te Tira Ārai Urutā) would be taking a non-adversarial approach.

“Rather than looking to find fault or assign blame, we are focused on capturing the lessons learnt from the pandemic so Aotearoa New Zealand is prepared for the future.”

During the election campaign, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of NZ First, Winston Peters, said that the terms of reference of the Royal Commission inquiry were “totally limited”.

In policy materials released during the campaign, NZ First said a Covid-19 inquiry must not be run by Parliament, “nor be restricted and narrow in its scope”.

“This must be a public and wide-ranging inquiry – so that New Zealanders will know the truth and be properly informed,” it said on its website.

In a joint press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the Government wanted to “broaden the terms of the Covid Inquiry, so it considers more things”.

Luxon said it would consider a range of topics, including social and economic impacts.

“It’s important for New Zealand in terms of what we need to learn for the future as well.”

One of the things the coalition Government would be discussing and working through “is actually how we broaden the terms” of the inquiry, Luxon said during the Friday press conference.

The previous government announced a Royal Commission inquiry into lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic in December 2022.
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“We actually want to learn from this experience. There will be other events in the future, no doubt, and it's important that we do do that.”

Stuff approached Peters on Tuesday and Wednesday to ask when it was anticipated this would start, who would be conducting it, how it would differ in the scope of the Royal Commission inquiry and if it would stand alone, or, involve an expansion in scope to the existing inquiry. Peters did not respond.

A Royal Commission spokesperson said it is aware that the Government’s coalition agreements make specific reference to the work of the Covid-19 Inquiry.

“We recognise the Government can seek to widen our Terms of Reference, and we welcome the opportunity to work with the new Government on this as required.”

The Royal Commission, under its current Terms of Reference, is required to report back by the end of September 2024, they said.

The National/NZ First coalition agreement also states that it will end all Covid-19 vaccine mandates still in operation.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health advised Covid-19 vaccine mandates ended on September 26, 2022,​ when the Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 was revoked.

However, employers can still choose to require workers to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment.

To date, more than 2.5​ million cases of Covid-19 have been reported in New Zealand to date, and 3549​ deaths have been attributed to the virus.

On Friday, it was announced public submissions for the Royal Commission inquiry have been delayed.

“It was our intention to seek public input and submissions on the inquiry from November this year. However, given the scope and Terms of Reference of the inquiry may change, we’ve made the decision to delay public submissions until early 2024,” Blakely said in a statement.