Editorial: Inquiry to answer big questions

Attorney General Christopher Finlayson.

The wide scope and statutory powers given to the government-appointed inquiry into the Havelock North water contamination is pleasing.

Given the scale of the disaster and questions surrounding how it was dealt with, it is important that no stone is left unturned in answering crucial questions that could help in future.

It was announced yesterday that the inquiry will report to Attorney General Christopher Finlayson, but the government still has not revealed who will head the inquiry.

They say that announcement will be made in a few weeks time. I am sure it will be a retired judge or someone knowledgeable in running an inquiry.

The good thing about an inquiry of this nature is that it does have statutory powers to call witnesses and essentially operates like a court of law.

I was pleased to see that the inquiry will look into how the Havelock North water supply became contaminated, how this was subsequently addressed and how local and central government agencies responded to the public health threat that occurred as a result of the contamination.

These are important questions that need to be answered because there has been some anger in the community about how the crisis was handled by the Hastings District Council and the Hawke's Bay District Health Board.

Both organisations insist that they did things by the book and followed procedures. That is all well and good, but maybe it is those processes that need changing.

One does wonder sometimes if processes become so important that they actually prevent people from simply using a commonsense approach.

If something does not seem right, then maybe the decision makers need to be told earlier than they were. Hopefully it will all come out in the wash.

It was interesting to see that PM John Key said criminal or civil charges are a possible outcome of the inquiry. Whether or not that is the result, we need learnings and accountability from the worst health crisis to affect our community in a very long while.