A public complaint has been raised against Grant Illingworth KC, Chair of Phase Two of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 “Lessons Learned”, with allegations of bias prompting calls for a review of the inquiry’s integrity.
In an open letter addressed to Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden and Health Minister Simeon Brown, filmmaker Gaylene Barnes argues that comments made by Illingworth during a post-submissions interview with former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern demonstrate a pre-determined stance toward participants in the 2022 Parliament protest.
The letter criticises Illingworth for referencing a documentary film about Ardern as a basis for assessing protestor motivations, claiming it presented a narrow and misleading portrayal of events while overlooking broader concerns raised by attendees, including opposition to vaccine mandates and their social and economic impacts. Barnes, who directed the separate documentary film River of Freedom offering protestor perspectives, says the Commission had access to alternative material and tens of thousands of public submissions but failed to reflect those viewpoints in its approach.
“During a recorded interview with former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on 7 October 2025 — months after the public submissions closed — Mr Illingworth made the following statement about the 2022 Parliament protestors,” wrote Barnes.
“’We don’t want to make the Hilary Clinton mistake and call people ‘undesirables’ but it seems even as portrayed in the Prime Minister movie, which I have seen, that there were people who had virulent hatred for what Government was doing during the period of time, to the point where it’s very, very difficult to understand the motivation behind it unless you accept the idea that they were believing stuff that is just totally inconsistent with the science.’”
“This comment reveals an extraordinary level of pre-judgment and bias. Mr Illingworth openly relied on Prime Minister – a panegyric documentary produced by Augusto, Jacinda Ardern’s favoured advertising agency – as “evidence” of the protestors’ motivations. He treated this US-edited film as a legitimate portrayal of events.”
She further contends that the Chair’s remarks suggest a lack of neutrality, undermining confidence in the inquiry’s findings and its stated goal of restoring public trust. The letter calls on ministers to assess Illingworth’s conduct, reconsider the Phase Two report, and potentially appoint new leadership to ensure a more impartial review of the evidence.
OPEN LETTER
Hon Brooke van Velden@BrookevanVelden
Minister of Internal Affairs
Hon. Simeon Brown@SimeonBrownMP
Minister of HealthDear Ministers van Velden and Brown,
As the Ministers tasked with receiving and reviewing the Phase Two report of the Royal Commission of…
— Gaylene Barnes (@GayleneABarnes) April 11, 2026
