As it happened: First public hearings into New Zealand's Covid-19 response begin
Photo:
The first
public hearings into New Zealand's Covid response
get under way on Monday - with a focus on lockdowns and vaccines.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 is looking into the government's response to the pandemic and its effects.
It is the first time submissions will be heard publicly, with the sessions livestreamed.
You can follow updates from today in our live blog above.
This week's hearings particularly concentrate on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021 and on vaccine mandates and safety.
In a minute issued on the Inquiry's website chair Grant Illingworth KC said that would include the effect on "social division and isolation, health and education, and business activity.
Covid 19 response Inquiry chair Grant Illingworth KC.
Photo:
Screengrab / Covid 19 Inquiry
"We will also hear from experts about the key decisions and their consequences, and lessons to be learned from what happened."
The hearings would be in secure hearing rooms, with commissioners, witnesses, lawyers and media present.
There was no provision for public attendance beyond those submitting but the live streams would run and be available as recordings as well, the minute said.
Witnesses would be questioned by lawyers helping the inquiry, and commissioners could ask questions.
A second public hearing was due next month in Wellington.
That was to hear from key decisions makers who "led and informed" the government's response to the pandemic.
This Royal Commission was set up under the previous Labour government, but its brief was expanded under the current government, with Illingworth taking the chairing role.
A report from the first phase was delivered last year.
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"I'm doing a couple (of soundbites) this weekend for a couple of announcements we're making in the top of the South so hopefully they'll be picked up. In the weekend when staffing levels are lower, that might be a little bit helpful too." Dr Claire Robinson Photo: supplied "Political parties have always used new technology to try and get their messages across - even going back to Michael Joseph Savage in 1938 when he used film, which was a new technology back then," Dr Claire Robinson told Mediawatch . "I think that the politicians hope that the time-poor media will just insert (the content) into coverage. But there's something deeper going on here because they're exploiting the whopping decline in journalism employment," said Dr Robinson, who is also the current chief of Toi Mai / the Workforce Development Council, which published a development plan for journalism in 2024. 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It doesn't say 'Vote for NZ First' but the boundaries are blurred. It is really saying our leader is a great leader because he can create amazing relationships with people." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
