Chris Hipkins must explain to Kiwis why he left Auckland in lockdown longer than was necessary, and why Labour embarked on a massive spending spree that New Zealanders are still paying for today, following the release of the COVID-19 Inquiry, senior National MP Simeon Brown says.
“Aucklanders endured some of the longest COVID-19 restrictions in the world. Businesses wondered if they would survive, parents had to explain to their kids why they couldn’t see their grandparents, and funerals were held without the people who should have been there.
“Aucklanders accepted those sacrifices because they trusted the restrictions were necessary. Chris Hipkins stood up and told them he was following the health advice. He wasn’t.
“The Royal Commission has now confirmed that Chris Hipkins kept Auckland locked down longer than required, despite receiving advice that restrictions could end sooner.
“The Royal Commission has also confirmed that unredacted Cabinet papers reveal the Ministry of Health warned Hipkins the Auckland boundary was unnecessary and impractical and should be lifted. Despite that advice, he kept it in place for another 32 days over the Christmas and New Year period and never told the public.
“He knew that advice and chose to ignore it, leaving businesses shut, families separated, and people pushed past their limits for no public health reason.
“Put simply, Aucklanders were asked to sacrifice more than they needed to, and they were never told the full story.
“But the consequences didn’t stop when the lockdowns ended. Labour paired these extended restrictions with huge government spending that New Zealanders are still paying for today.”
Mr Brown says Labour ignored repeated warnings about the scale and effectiveness of its spending, with the economic consequences still being felt.
“Treasury told Labour from the beginning that COVID-19 spending needed to be timely, temporary, and targeted. Labour ignored that advice.
“The result was a $60 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund across 821 programmes, around half of which had little or nothing to do with the pandemic.
“The Royal Commission found Labour’s highly stimulatory fiscal and monetary policies drove house prices to unsustainable levels and fuelled inflation.
“That’s why families today are dealing with higher mortgages, higher rents, and higher grocery bills. Many households are still paying the price for decisions Labour made during the pandemic.”
The Royal Commission found:
- Around half of Labour’s $60 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund had nothing to do with the pandemic;
- Labour’s ‘shovel-ready projects’ failed Treasury’s test of being timely and temporary;
- Highly stimulatory fiscal and monetary policies pushed house prices far above comparable countries and fuelled inflation;
- Labour left New Zealand with far less flexibility to respond to future crises; and
- Labour missed repeated opportunities to improve its economic decision-making.
“It makes sense now why Chris Hipkins refused to front publicly at the Commission’s hearings.
“He owes an explanation to every Aucklander who endured a lockdown that went on longer than it needed to, and to every family still feeling the squeeze from Labour’s economic decisions.
“National has spent two years making the tough calls needed to repair Labour’s damage. The last thing New Zealand can afford is a Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori coalition with no fresh ideas and no lessons learned from its own failures.”