He said some people the organising committee had talked to hadn't realised there had been such an issue in the community, or how it had affected a lot of people.
"It just highlighted how important it is that we do things like this."
There was a broad spectrum of perspectives and opinions on Covid, and what the panel was endeavouring to do was get people from across the spectrum to share their perspectives.
Dannevirke resident Dot Watson, a social worker and counsellor, said she had decided to organise the hui "to bring us all together because there has been a lot of stuff going on. We need to heal. That was the reasoning."
Watson described people in the community as 'doers and dreamers'.
"I think we're a bit of both, and this needs people who are a bit of both to pull together and do what we need to do. It's been a hard two years. I never thought I'd see the day where what's happened over the last two years has happened. But it has, and we have to be able to move on from that."
Guy Hatchard, who wrote the Hatchard Report and was an advocate of alternative medicine and food safety, talked to those present about some of the science behind the vaccine and some of the research he'd done on it.
Panellist and one of the organisers, Kim Phelps, said Hatchard's talk was well-received.
However, he said the focus for the hui was more about community unity than the pros and cons of various measures around Covid.
Palmerston North writer Bruce Rapley also spoke about some of the science.
Phelps said Ben Simmons, from the National Party, also came down from Hawke's Bay.
He talked about growing up in Dannevirke and the advantages of small towns.
Phelps said another panellist spoke of how Covid had affected her employment and how she was able to figure something out with her employer so that she could keep working.
When he was able to speak about his experience, he told those present that he and his wife had been unable to continue working due to the mandates and how that impacted everything they did in the community.
"We'd always spent our money in the community and there was no more money to spend in the community."
As an osteopath, he was required to be vaccinated, according to the Government's mandate, in order to continue practising.
While he was still able to hold his practising certificate he was unable to operate his clinic.
The organisers were now looking to hold future events and it was anticipated that more community business owners and leaders would attend as they would be affected by the outcome.
In a post on Facebook, Dot Watson said there had been many questions at the hui which some of the guests couldn't answer, and she hoped to be able to get those answers in the near future.
She said there was a possibility of having a follow-up hui for people to come together and start setting up support groups or sharing other resources and ideas that had been shared through the hui.
"[It was] a great start to opening much-needed conversations and towards healing and understanding that we are not alone in this."
