Sir Ray Avery Opinion Piece

Professor Tony Blakely is the head of the NZ Covid Royal Commission of Enquiry and as such would be expected to be impartial with respect to applying judgement with respect to the how the labour Government dealt with the outbreak of Covid in NZ.

But new evidence suggests that Prof Blakely may have been responsible for the Government extended lockdowns.

NZ Investigative journalist Kate McNamara's research into Blakely’s involvement in the Governments failed covid elimination strategy suggest that Blakely was a key driver in the decision for the NZ Government to extend lockdowns in NZ.

As Kate states in her article.

"Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield and McElnay knew the end to MIQ, applied in blanket form, would be controversial and likely to keep tens of thousands of New Zealanders from returning home so Bloomfield sought an independent peer review.

Bloomfield stated:

"We have considered both the public health and policy implications, as well as seeking external review of the public health risk assessment from epidemiologists Professor Philp Hill and Professor Antony Blakely".

The release of Blakely’s peer review was requested from the Ministry of Health (MoH) under the OIA in 2021; it was refused on the grounds that it constituted protected "free and frank expression of opinions" by or between or to officials or ministers.

Last week, the Herald asked the ministry to reconsider releasing the review. It has not yet responded. The Herald also invited Blakely to provide the review. He did not respond to the request.

To be honest we don’t need to see Philp Hill and Tony Blakely’s peer reviewed opinion piece because they are published here.

Both are architects of the Governments failed Covid elimination strategy which the government pursued for far too long on the recommendations of Hill and Blakely and caused immense harm with respect to the health and economic wellbeing of our people.

So, can we expect an impartial, none conflicted ,Covid enquiry from Blakely and expect him to confess his strategy was wrong?

In Blakely’s own words "we are approaching the enquiry by putting ourselves in the shoes of the decision maker at the time." suggests that Blakely will give himself a free pass and The Minister of Internal affairs Brooke Van Helden is rubber stamping this by not sacking Blakely at the expense of the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

The question is how far can our new Government be complicit in this malfiance before they are called to account or legal remedies are put in place. I am exploring legal options in best interests and wellbeing of our Whanau and Tamariki.

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