He misrepresented his engineering qualifications, moved to Australia and refused to appear at the CTV Building Collapse Inquiry, held after the Canterbury earthquakes – although he eventually gave evidence via video link from Australia.
Now there are four more refusals.
Former Labour ministers – Dame Jacinda Ardern, Grant Robertson, Ayesha Verrall — and Leader of the Opposition Chris Hipkins are refusing to give public evidence to the Covid Royal Commission.
When Labour ministers set up the first inquiry, they never said they themselves would not give public evidence.
Their excuses to not appear at the second inquiry are not, in my view, valid.
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, hardly one to volunteer for scrutiny, gave public evidence to Britain’s inquiry. If he could, why can’t ours?
The ministers say they have answered all the questions in private. But how do we know? Justice must not only be done; it must be seen to be done.
For five years, key questions have gone unanswered. During the lockdowns, Parliament was suspended temporarily, with select committee hearings held virtually.
Labour ministers have escaped accountability, in my opinion.
The ex-ministers’ refusal to testify in public appears designed to undermine confidence in any report.
It was Ardern who told us: “We will continue to be your single source of truth.”
Unlike previous commissions of inquiry, there are some truths that only she and her ministers can supply.
The commission is failing us when it allows ex-ministers to decline to give public testimony to answer important questions.
Why was New Zealand still wide open when 181 other destinations had restrictions?
As late as March 11, 2020, Sam Morgan, founder of Trade Me, warned in a Newsroom opinion piece: “Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gave the go-ahead for The Pasifika Festival and the national remembrance event for the mosque shootings ... Our Prime Minister must think we’re much smarter than Italy, Japan, China, the UK and everyone else at pandemic control.”
During the far deadlier Spanish Flu pandemic, Prime Minister William Massey never closed New Zealand’s Parliament. Why not a virtual Parliament instead of temporary suspension of Parliament?
Why did ministers spurn the Opposition’s offer of co-operation?
Was an all-party Cabinet even considered?
Simon Bridges, as chair of the Epidemic Response Committee, reported that tracing was failing, testing inadequate and the lockdown unnecessarily long.
All later proven true. Why was he vilified rather than considering his sensible proposals?
Many lockdown decisions were illogical. Supermarkets and dairies could open, but greengrocers and butchers were closed. What is the explanation?
Outdoor activities such as construction were banned. In Queensland, construction was never locked down. Why was it safe there but not here?
As one economist observed, locking families into overcrowded South Auckland houses seemed designed to spread the virus.
When I used the Government’s New Zealand Covid tracer app, it repeatedly failed.
A University of Auckland publication reported that during early 2021, only 10-15% of adults were scanning QR codes or making manual entries into the Covid tracer app.
At the time, IT experts told me there was technology that could deliver near-instant tracing, making lockdowns unnecessary. Why was this not done?
The Simpson–Roche Report urged immediate use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs).
But the Government initially restricted importation of RATs due to concerns about reliability and regulation. They were later approved and made free, enabling wide distribution. The ex-ministers must explain.
Consider Taiwan. Despite being on China’s doorstep, Taiwan’s excess mortality rate was negative. Taiwan never locked down. No national school closures. Its economy grew.
Why did we not adopt Taiwan’s tracing? Why didn’t we assess arrivals by risk and allow low-risk travellers to self-isolate?
New Zealanders were locked out because quarantine places were taken up by travellers from Covid-free Pacific islands.
Rule changes seemed driven more by polling than by science. Contact advice swung from “self-isolate for 14 days” to “take a RAT test if you get symptoms.”
Only ministers can explain three damaging decisions that have scarred our society.
Before the election, Hipkins, the Covid Minister, announced we were “at the front of the queue” for vaccines. In fact, New Zealand’s rollout started later than many OECD countries.
Despite Australia’s Prime Minister warning that the Delta variant could not be stopped by a lockdown, our ministers ordered the disastrous Auckland lockdown.
During that lockdown, my daughter died of cancer. I could not visit her. We could not hold a funeral. That wound will never heal.
Ardern assured vaccination would never be compulsory. At the same, vaccination was made mandatory for workers in a number of sectors. To me, there is little difference between those things.
In a democracy, it is not the choice of those who have held power whether to be publicly accountable. It is our choice whether to forgive their actions. But first there must be truth – then there can be reconciliation.
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