“ACT will take the politics out of the Royal Commission into the Government’s Covid-19 response by allowing all New Zealanders to have their say on what should be investigated through a new crowdsourced terms of reference”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“There is always a tension when the Government calls an inquiry into its own actions. A Royal Commission is independent, but the Government sets the terms of reference. In this case, the Government has excluded key questions about the impact of its response on the wider society.
“Labour’s limits on the terms of reference mirror the central failing of the Covid-19 response itself. Labour said it was the one source of truth, and Covid-19 mattered more than any other kind of wellbeing.
“New Zealand’s Covid-19 response placed unprecedented restrictions on people’s lives with little scrutiny. It significantly impacted on education, mental health, crime, businesses, and benefit dependency.
“It also had a massive impact on social cohesion. The Government’s response – extended lockdowns and vaccine mandates, in particular – caused huge division and left people feeling like they weren’t being listened to.
“New Zealanders could have had their voices heard as part of the Royal Commission process, but they have been shut out of decision-making again. The current terms of reference were decided by the same Government responsible for the Covid-19 response and they place significant limits on what the inquiry can consider.
“ACT says that’s wrong. We would reopen the terms of reference, give all New Zealanders a say on them, and change them based on the feedback, so all concerns are heard.
“Section 7(5) of the Inquiries Act 2013 says: ‘The appointing Minister or appropriate Minister, as the case may be, may amend the terms of reference by notice in the Gazette.’ ACT would:
- Call for public submissions on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand’s response to COVID-19;
- Allow New Zealanders six weeks to make submissions on what they believe should be in the terms of reference;
- Based on those submissions, change the terms of reference, as allowed for by the section 7(5) of the Inquiries Act 2013.
“One of the key problems of our Covid-19 response was a failure to take an overall wellbeing response – weighing up all the costs and benefits of major decisions. But investigating how the Government’s response affected education, business, and mental health has been ruled out. The terms of reference say the inquiry can consider whether the elimination strategy was effective in limiting the spread of infection but not its impact on wider aspects of human wellbeing. That is completely wrong.
“The Royal Commission won’t consider:
- Whether the rules set by the Government aimed at overall wellbeing, or if it was primarily focused on eliminating Covid-19;
- How cost-effective the Government’s policies to protect health were, using measures like quality-adjusted life years, and whether other policies would have been more cost-effective in improving the lives of New Zealanders;
- Whether the Government should have partnered more with business and professional groups like the country’s network of GPs, or if it was overly captured by the Ministry of Health;
- If it was sensible to restructure the health system in the middle of a pandemic;
The extent of disruption to New Zealanders’ health, education and business as a result of the Government’s policies; - If the Government’s response was consistent with the rule of law.
“ACT says all of these matters should be investigated.
“We literally can’t afford to repeat what we went through, so we all need a frank assessment of how to do it better. New Zealanders deserve better than another experimental response the next time a pandemic arises.
“The Royal Commission should not be politicised or restricted in what it can investigate.
“ACT would crowdsource the terms of reference, so all New Zealanders’ concerns are heard. That is a more constructive and less political process.”
This is more like it ACT. Might even prmpt Nats/Luxon to make ‘a statement’.
Whitewash.
100%……
There shouldn’t be a ‘Terms of Reference’ ops; there should be, however, Nuremburg ll based on the premeditated use of a known and untested toxin and bio-weapon that was unleashed on the ‘public’…with ALL of the government officials, both elected and appointed who knew this but lined their pockets anyway at our expense!!!!!!!!
Said the party that endorsed the mandates, with the likes of the nasty Nats and tyrannical Liebour. Too little, too late Seymour.
His candidates tried to wake him up to the reality of the tyranny. Instead, he became arrogant and patronising. He deserves a reality check – accountability is inevitable for those who pushed the totalitarianism.
They pressured/coerced an experimental vaccine through employment and news media, circumventing informed consent.
That’s an international crime.
And still not a word about the safety and efficacy of the so-called vaccine. Nope, Mr Seymour, my vote will go to Liz Gunn (NZLoyal), who is on the war path with you Globalists. Nothing less!!
Saynomore and SHUT UP!
You’re lying through your teeth! I have watched you on TV, how you stood in front of an empty parliament during covid lock-down and demanded that ALL traffic in and out of Auckland ought to be hermetically shut down, trying to out-do Jabcinda in her tyranny.
YOU Seymore are an opportunistic turncoat, a doo-gooder weasel without principles, you are part of the grand coalition of dictatorial parasites that forms ATM New Zealand parliament.
We The People will instigate a full and public tribunal, with ALL culprits on trial, from the top echelons of corrupt politicians and their ‘advisors (medsafe), down to the last ‘doctor’ who administered the ‘vaccine’ covid bio-weapon mRNA injection
ALL OF THEM!
WE will NEVER Forget!
And who the hell you think you are, together with all your other colleague parliament weasels to tell US, the New Zealand public, how such an inquisition will be conducted? YOU will be on the defendants bench!
Still smells like rat.