Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Lady Deborah Chambers: Trust Litigation and Relationship Property Lawyer on the need for an apology for measures undertaken during Covid

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Lady Deborah Chambers: Trust Litigation and Relationship Property Lawyer on the need for an apology for measures undertaken during Covid · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The first phase of the Royal Commission inquiry into the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: COVID response has been released, and while it says many
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: things were done correctly, it's highly critical of the government
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: response at the time, particularly around mandates and the length
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: of lockdowns. Lady Deborah Chambers Casey wrote an opinion piece
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: at the time, and I spoke to her then. This
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: is the first line from it. The emergency legislation in
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: response to COVID nineteen giving our government the right to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: control our freedom of movement is no longer demonstrably justified
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in removing the fundamental rights to which New Zealanders are entitled.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: And Lady Deb's with me this morning. Good morning, Good
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: morning Ryan, great to speak to you again. How did
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you feel or what did you think reading that or
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: having a look at that report yesterday?
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Well, I thought there was some good news there in
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: that Tony, Professor Tony Blakeley has grappled with the some
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: and the hurt caused to a lot of New Zealanders
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: and the harm caused to a lot of New Zealanders
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: by our government's response to COVID, and he also obviously
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: has some pretty good ideas about a heart to cope
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: next time, but he does grapple with this issue of
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: excessive use of lockdowns. And he's also, as we know,
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: very critical of the mandates, particularly towards the end period
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: of the epidemic.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Do we need some kind of accountability for this?
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Well, personally, I think that an apology is due. I mean,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: I was pro vaccination, so I wasn't affected by the mandates.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: But I know from my interaction and from this report
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: that those people affected by the mandates who lost their jobs,
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: for example, are very angry still. You see them and
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: you hear them in the community and at political things
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: and so on, that they disrupt political meetings. They are
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: feeling so angry by that so and that social lack
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: of cohesion not forgetting and they're quite a big group,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: so and they feel very hurt. And also I also
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: think there's been, as the Commission says, this reduction throughout
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: New Zealand and confidence and government. So I mean, I
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: must say I'm pointing the singer Chris Hipkins. Why because
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: he was Minister in charge of COVID nineteen response, Education, Police,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Health and Deputy Prime Minister. And he's the only one
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: of the three of them who are still there in Parliament,
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: and you know his response is so far. Quote it's
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: a really helpful report. Quote, I accept the Royal Commissions
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: finding that there were things that could have been done differently. Well,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: it's the usual weatl words, isn't it from politicians? I mean,
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: he would be better and it would be it would
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: make a difference to people if he said we made
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: for real mistakes and I'm sorry we did that. I'm
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: sorry we did that around these issues of mandates lockdowns
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: and I think am i q as well?
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: What about just an apology basically from Hopkins? Yeah, what
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: about the And we've only got about a minute left here,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: lady Deborah, but what about the you wrote this column.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: I'm sure you would have got lots of kickback from
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: lots of corners. Just that that social fragmentation, when one
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: person put their head above the parapet to say something
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: that God forbid might contradict the prevailing narrative, you're shot down.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, that was definitely the case that no other
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: view was accepted, and it was, you know, very it
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: was like a fundamentalist religion. It was far too rigid
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and far too lacking and taking into account other people's perspectives.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: As a sorry state that we were in.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Lady DEBORH. Chambers, I appreciate your time. Thank you very
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: much for being with me, my pleasure.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Nice to talk. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 4:21
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• 4:25
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