John MacDonald: Trust us, we'll be more open next time. Pfft

Author: John MacDonald,
Publish Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2026, 12:27pm

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If anyone tells you today that they believe all this talk about the government being more transparent when the next pandemic hits, just put it down to a bit of the old Covid brain.

And, if you find yourself believing it, just tell yourself too that that’s what it is and that it will eventually wear off and you’ll come to your senses.

Because are we really expected to believe this?

So, what’s happened, is the government has released its response to the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry.

The inquiry which made 63 recommendations. All of which have been accepted by the government in some way, shape or form.

With Health Minister Simeon Brown saying that a key thing is going to be rebuilding New Zealanders’ trust. After the way things went during Covid.

Which is why he’s saying that, next time, any key advice used by the government to make decisions which affect our individual rights will be made public within five working days.

Which sounds great, doesn’t it? But don’t think for a minute that that will mean you and I knowing more and understanding things more.

Because, for starters, while the current lot might think this should happen. There’s no guarantee any future government will think the same. Can you imagine Labour, for example, signing up to this?

They're not going to make this any sort of legal or constitutional requirement. It’s just what the current government says, in an ideal world, should happen. And has its fingers crossed that another crowd in government would feel the same.

Also, what Simeon Brown isn’t telling us, is the level of detail the government of the day would share with us. Within five working days.

There’s a big difference between releasing information that is useful and enlightening and releasing information just because you said you’d release information.

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