Parliament in session during the first year of the Covid pandemic. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Parliament began this week with a Ministerial Statement from Minister of Health Simeon Brown announcing the release of the final report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 Lessons Learned.
This report is a "second phase" of the inquiry, after coalition parties asked for broader terms of reference and different commissioners than the initial one.
When reports of this scale are released, Parliament typically debates them. With some interpretation, the inquiry findings offered political ammunition for all sides.
This debate occurred as a Ministerial Statement, a parliamentary set-piece that allows the government to formally brief the House on a major development, before opposition and coalition parties respond with speeches or questions.
Some statements resemble a constructive press conference, but this one was used as an attack opportunity and turned into a heated debate about the legacy of policy decisions, and even over what the findings of the inquiry were.
For National, who have spent much of the previous week dealing with unfavourable polling coverage, the report offered a chance to attack Labour and revisit some of the more contentious decisions of the pandemic response.
For Labour, it was an opportunity to highlight positive findings, defend Covid decisions and push back on the coalition parties' interpretation of the Inquiry.
ACT and New Zealand First appeared to be actively competing for those voters who retain a beef with the Covid response.
More in depth reporting of party responses to the Inquiry report can be found here.
The Inquiry website and the two reports can be found here.
The audio version of this report is available at the link near the top of the story.
- RNZ's The House, with insights into Parliament, legislation and issues, is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.
