Heather du Plessis-Allan: Government inquiry into Northland Covid lockdown necessary

Three women were mistakenly allowed to go from Auckland to Northland during the Delta lockdown for work. Photo / Michael Craig

Opinion

OPINION:

If you needed convincing that an inquiry into our Covid response is necessary, take a look at the Northland lockdown revelations this week.

It turns out, it wasn't two sex workers who caused the 11-day Northland lockdown in October last year. It was one Ministry of Social Development (MSD) worker.

In fact, there weren't two women. There were three. They weren't sex workers. They applied under a construction business.

They asked for permission to go from Auckland to Northland during the Delta lockdown for work. For whatever reason, they should've been declined. But an MSD worker accidentally said yes. The worker realised it three days before the lockdown was called. "Sorry, my mistake."

That is the only sorry we seem likely to get. Because the Government's not saying it. Not Jacinda Ardern. Not Chris Hipkins. Not Carmel Sepuloni, whose department is to blame.

They happily take credit for their system working. But not for their system failing. Their system allowed the women to wrongly cross the border. The women took Covid with them. The system was set up to stop exactly that. It was supposed to keep Covid in Auckland.

They won't say sorry for letting us all believe for 11 months that these women used "false information" to cross the border.

The Government could've corrected the record. They could've done it the minute they realised the women hadn't committed fraud. Or they could've done it when one of the women told the Herald "I did nothing wrong" less than a fortnight after the lockdown started.

But they didn't. The only reference we can find is Hipkins dropping into the middle of a radio interview on day five of the lockdown that "there was a degree of error in the approval in the first place". They held a press conference accusing these women of fraud. They never held a press conference undoing that accusation.

That's why we need an inquiry. To find out what really happened. Not what the PM says happened. Not what Hipkins says happened. But what really happened.

And what happened with the vaccine order? What was the real reason we didn't get decent Pfizer shipments until so late in Auckland's longest lockdown act we had to borrow some from Spain?

What happened with the RAT kits? Did the Government really commandeer orders meant for private businesses? Why were RATs banned until the tail end of Auckland's lockdown anyway?

Was it really necessary to ban fathers from hospitals while their wives delivered their baby alone? Or lost their baby alone?

Was it really necessary to keep so many Kiwis locked out of NZ for so long? Was there a way to let returning Kiwis leave MIQ early to say goodbye to their dying mum?

Did the KFC worker really break the rules or did the PM beat up on her to shift the blame?

Did Charlotte Bellis demand special treatment or was she defamed by Hipkins?

How many crimes went unsolved while police were deployed to babysit Hone Harawira's and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer's iwi roadblocks? How many gang tangi were ignored by police during lockdowns while law-abiding citizens busted their butts to obey the rules?

How much earlier should Labour have lifted Auckland's border? How much earlier could Auckland's hospitality have opened? How many businesses fell over because they didn't?

If Jacinda Ardern and Labour truly believe they deserve accolades for the trauma they've inflicted on this country they should back themselves and call an inquiry. The UK's done it. Sweden's done it. Both of their responses were controversial and yet their governments have the courage.

National says they'll call an inquiry within 100 days of winning the election, if they win it. The pressure on Labour to do the same will only increase the closer we draw to the election, if National continues to look like they're in with a chance.

If Labour continues to block an inquiry, it'll look like they're hiding something. After what's just happened with the story around the Northland lockdown, is that impossible to believe?

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive, Newstalk ZB, 4pm-7pm, weekdays.