Covid Pandemic Response

We need to talk about Jacinda Ardern because her testimony behind closed doors to the Royal Commission has been revealed in the Herald today. Now, there is nothing particularly newsworthy in it. It is more noteworthy because of what is not. In the transcript there is no regret, no apologies, no sorries, which I suppose you wouldn't expect, right? Because this is not unusual from the crew who ran our lives during COVID. The exchanges are pretty much as evasive as you would expect them to be, like this one about the mandates. The commission chair says it would be remiss of me not to put this question to you. You divided the nation. Jacinda Ardern replies, in what regard? I mean she knows in what regard. There was a bloody protest below her office in the beehive. Then there's the over explaining that we used to, there is the flannel that we used to, like when she was asked if she has regrets and she replies, regrets a curious word. It's interesting timing that the transcript is in the news today because of course the now Emmy nominated documentary hit Netflix just a few days ago. And it's got people discussing her again. I bumped into someone at the beach over the Easter weekend who said they just watched it the night before and wanted to discuss it. I have a friend on maternity leave who's halfway through it and wanted to discuss it. and if you're like me and you watch it you're going to have mixed emotions I think after watching it I'm not proud of New Zealand for driving that family out of the country I would like to think that we're better than that but at the same time like we said yesterday about Kanye West being pulled from the festival in the UK accountability really matters it's an important principle and Jacinda has dodged accountability all the way through since she quit before she lost the election she refused to give public evidence to the royal Royal Commission. I think, though, the accountability she hasn't managed to avoid is when she bumps into ordinary Kiwis on the street and they tell her what they think, and so she had to leave the country. Now, we will never know if things would be less hostile towards Jacinda if she just fronted up to that inquiry in public rather than giving this evidence behind closed doors. We will never know, because it will never happen. But I'll tell you what we can be sure of. Even if she'd done it, it would just be more of the same flannel, wouldn't it?