"They’re at end of life... and they’re making them sit outside in the cold and mum’s got lung cancer..."
Reflections on attempts at including diverse viewpoints into government decision-making through the DPMC-led Community Panel and some equity reports.
Covid restrictions affected people very differently. There’s been quite a bit published on equity that has made news recently and during the pandemic it was both a huge focus yet also…a complete after-thought. While I waited for some OIA’s to arrive - I had a noodle around some more obscure equity-related documents.
The Community Panel
Chaired by PR consultant Sarah Sparks, the Community Panel was set up by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) in July 2021. During its existence the Panel:
Laser-like huh. Yeah, I’m not sure the Panel did anything to uphold human rights.
On that note, I’m currently researching how the Alert Levels were developed (if you think they came came from public health officials in New Zealand, you’d be wrong). I noticed the 23rd of March 2020 Cabinet paper on the proposal to move into Alert Level 3 and the full lockdown of Alert Level 4, unbelievably said on these unprecedented restrictions:
After reading through the Panel’s minutes, I think it just allowed some comments on policy that was already, or just about to be, enacted. I’m not sure how much impact it had, if any.
Sparks also attended the Covid-19 Chief Executive meetings to impart updates in her capacity as Chair too:
Wow, so gracious that government would deign to listen!
During their monthly meetings a range of discussions took place as well as presentations from various government officials. Panel member Habib Ullah Marwat, a Principal Advisor at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, raised how small food places, such as ethnic supermarkets were not allowed to open during Level 4 lockdowns and families who were halal had difficulty with food access. Marwat also commented communities such as his were not even mentioned on his District Health Board’s ethnic plans.
Mental health issues for children and adults cropped up in almost every meeting. Some of their concerns needed more context to be understood - 1 member claimed homophobia in accessing food support in a meeting. I’d like to have known more about how someone’s sexual orientation would even come up in that situation - the anecdote does not state what actually happened, just that it happened. But after being mentioned once in their opening meeting, it became gospel and kept being mentioned again and again through their documents as an accepted and very worrying fact that was happening to people.
Panel member Doctor Api Talemaitoga, discussed in their September 2021 meeting an increase of family violence during the Delta outbreak lockdown in Auckland. At the start of the 1st lockdown in 2020, this was a visible concern - the Ministry of Social Development provided $12 million in extra funding to mitigate the effects.
Violence still happened of course - a 2020 news media article covered a report that showed a “dramatic” family violence spike during the early lockdowns in 2020. The core irony and tragedy of Covid restrictions was if your attempt to save lives from 1 thing instead just caused lives lost from other things. All because a Covid death was politically far worse.
In their October meeting, DPMC staff member Megan Stratford gave a briefing on vaccine passes with this gem to the panel:
I had to let that sink in. Public health thought testing negative for Covid - wasn’t as reliable as being vaccinated for Covid.
Words fail me.
Okay, except some words. I can find some words.
Public health has clearly lost it. In October 2021 there was clear evidence the vaccines didn’t stop transmission - yet I guess New Zealand public health knew better that the rest of the world?
In their December meeting, Panel member Aram Kim, a psychiatrist, said, “…in his communities there is also a fear of hostility between vaccinated/unvaccinated populations and even racial slurs with the vaccine pass mandates.” What slurs and how and why was unrecorded in the minutes.
Their February 2022 meeting had a visit from Ministry of Education staff and the Panel raised issues at schools with them:
Fear of punishment for taking off a mask is pretty sad.
And (look, they need to learn their failings) none of these scenarios were ever considered by those unhinged public health lobbyists - who got a blog post republished as an op-ed in the New Zealand Medical Journal in March 2023, basically stating children should never be exposed to endemic viruses. It of course devolved into lobbying for various types of restrictions in schools, including N95 masking for children during seasonal outbreaks of respiratory viruses. They even suggested a study to figure out how to use hand signals to communicate with children wearing masks. Yes, they really said that. Unhinged.
The Panel also talked about dead naming in relation to the My Vaccine Pass:
The Community Panel formally disbanded in June 2022. To March 2022, the group had been paid $11.5k in total.
The Chair’s closing report has a butterfly and exaggerated night school attempts at creative writing - Sparks praised the bravery of DPMC and renamed Covid:
You need to see the butterfly? Well, if you insist...
I’m making light of the final report, and while I’m not sure how much impact they had on any policy, the Community Panel did raise serious and much needed points on Covid policy and the impact of restrictions on different types of people.
Te Rau Ora equity review
Consisting of interviews with 43 people, the Te Rau Ora equity review was released on the Ministry of Health website in May 2023 (despite being finalised in July of 2022) with 10 recommendations for the Covid response. Its publication seemed to have gotten lost in the lumbering health sector reforms.
It notes access is not equal - which is a big problem. A 2021 self-isolation trial was skewed only towards the “lap top class” of business travellers, who were claimed by then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to have more more “skin in the game” in order to participate in the trial. And someone visiting an ill family member didn't?
The review also clearly states vaccination mandates made things worse. If Māori and Pacific people had lower vaccination rates - they would have been more adversely affected by mandates and domestic vaccine passports. This was a key point made by several government agencies when DPMC sought urgent feedback from them in mid-September 2021 on the proposal to implement domestic vaccine passports.
A far cry to what some dumbed-out DPMC official wrote in patronizing support of adding boosters to domestic vaccine passes in February 2022 - because it would help Māori and Pacific people keep their jobs:
Issues of division appear through the report:
Alongside compounding issues of workplace shortages due to isolation requirements and un-vaccinated people being mandated out of their jobs. Some people who relied on carers simply couldn’t get carers. This included restrictions on family members who were carers:
Oh yes - it’s not just a written report - there’s also the above graphic narrative of the report and an animation video on YouTube:
The report raises serious issues with the response, but the use of tax payer money to create a Youtube video with 40 views (now including me) is also an issue with the response.
After reflecting on this report, while it’s framed as a review of the Covid response, it’s really a review of society in general and how 1 solution does not work for the many areas of society government might claim it to be adequate for.
A report issued through the Human Rights Commission saw the Disability Rights Commissioner intone, “In my view, Aotearoa New Zealand’s COVID-19 elimination strategy was incredibly successful at protecting disabled people and was highly effective for 18 months. The elimination strategy undoubtedly saved countless lives, particularly before New Zealand’s vaccination programme could advance significantly.”
But look, when 83 is the average age of death from Covid in New Zealand, I’d suggest the response didn’t save lives so much as delay the inevitable reason for people to sadly pass. But what was the cost of that delay to people, was it worth it to them and society? While the Royal Commission of Inquiry has been announced, the Chair is a lock down supporter who I suspect will lead a focus not on ‘uh should we have done that?’ but ‘now, how could we have done exactly what we did but with a better focus on equity?’
End of post bonus: All the available Community Panel meeting minutes I could find:
Well done with this.
Thank you for bringing this to light Al.