December 06, 2022
Māori response questions for Covid commission
Former cabinet minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of a Royal Commission to look into the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The commission – epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, former minister Hekia Parata and former Treasury secretary John Whitehead- is expected to report in mid-2024.
Mr Jones says given what he saw at the time he’d like to see it take a close look at the attitude of the health bureaucracy towards ministers and the public.
It also needs to review how effective the vaccine roll out was for tangata whenua, especially in isolated areas like Taitokerau.
“The orthodox bureaucracy tends to wait for you to present and go and see them whereas the opposite is needed. You kind of need a mobile division on the ground that has got the confidence and the strength of relationship to just bowl up, knock on the door to start to talk to Rangi and the whanau, ‘we know what’s happening, we want to work with you to get rid of these problems,” Mr Jones