10 great questions the Royal Commission should ask

Two professors of economics have 10 questions they would have out to former Ministers about Covid-19. Hopefully these have been put by the Royal Commission. They are:

• 1. When did you become aware, if at all, of the evidence that the vaccines did not prevent transmission?  
• 2. Were you at all concerned, especially in light of the limited efficacy of vaccines that making the vaccines mandatory may damage public confidence and in the end result in lower uptake of other vaccines as well?
• 3. In 2020, did you know what the average age of death with covid-19 was and whether this differed from background life expectancy? If you had known that these figures were the same would this have changed your response?
• 4. Were you aware in 2020, that the mortality risk from Covid-19 was highly skewed by age with the risk for young adults or youths being miniscule? How and to what extent did this risk stratification by age issue play a role in your deliberations?
• 5. The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act gives individuals the right to refuse medical treatment. It would appear that the vaccine mandates contravened this right. What was the nature of the discussion in balancing this tension between the individual’s right to refuse treatment and the common good of the vaccine mandate? What advice was sought and from whom?
• 6. Is it true that the Election (sic) Commission suggested postponing the 2020 General Elections to November in order to give the opposition time to campaign? If so, then what were the grounds for ignoring this advice?
• 7. Is it true that in September 2021, the Director General of Health suggested that a Level 4 lockdown was no longer required for Auckland? What, then, was the basis for extending this lockdown to December?
• 8. You are on record for stating that a strong health response in the form of lockdowns was the best economic response. Our response was among the most debt-intensive, saw one of the sharpest declines in real GDP growth, and likely incurred large human capital losses from school closures. What kind of economic advice did you seek and what evidence did you rely on? Did those agencies/experts agree with your assessment and response?
• 9. Were you aware of the Productivity Commission report suggesting that the costs of the extra five days of lockdown in April 2020 outweighed the benefits by about 90 to 1? If so, then what role did this evidence play in future deliberations? Did you consider seeking similar feedback from the Productivity Commission regarding the cost-benefit trade-offs of other key policies? If not, why not?
• 10. Do you have any regrets about how you handled the pandemic?

I will be very disappointed if questions like these were not put to the former Ministers.