Outdoors & Freedom Party Highlights Media Silence On Royal Commission Submissions
Phase One of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā received over 13,000 submissions despite excluding important questions such as vaccine safety and efficacy.
This almost tripling of submissions for Phase 2 highlights the public interest in areas the government would prefer to have ignored.
The one media report that has covered this was RNZ Morning report, where reporter Corin Dann questioned the Royal Commission Chair when questioned over issues like Vaccine Safety said.
"Just Like any court hearing we have to look at both sides of the story."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018984943/submissions-closed-for-phase-two-of-covid-inquiry
The 2025 "Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand" report from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Centre for Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD) shows a marginal decrease in overall trust in news, from 33% in 2024 to 32% in 2025. While still low, this suggests a slowing down of the sharp decline observed in previous years.
"It's not surprising that the public has lost trust in news media news" says Aly Cook, Publicist board member and media spokesperson for NZ Outdoors and Freedom Party"if mainstream media fail to cover such important news as this public inquiry with unprecedented level of public engagement, the public will look elsewhere for news.'
'The 31,000 submissions to Phase Two of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned | Te Tira Ārai Urutā, is potentially the largest ever for such an inquiry in New Zealand. It's inexplicable that it has not been headline news." Said Sue Grey Leader, of the NZ Outdoors Party and a specialist in complex emerging issues who has law science and public health qualifications .
Aly Cook, mother of a formally diagnosed & ACC accepted vaccine-injured son , previously saw her petition to Parliament, which called for a Royal Commission into COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy (a topic excluded from the first inquiry), garner significant public support with 23,098 signatures https://petitions.parliament.nz/7e760f56-5aa0-448e-8c2b-9652f7fe3215 that petition also experienced apparent media silence.
Adding to the concern over the lack of media coverage of significant public engagement with the Royal Commission, there's also been a similar lack of reporting on the level of vaccine injury and deaths recognised by ACC. ACC's latest proactive release, as of January 2025, shows 5 ACC recognised deaths in New Zealand linked to the COVID-19 vaccine, alongside $12.6 million in ACC payouts to those who have experienced vaccine-related injuries. This significant data on acknowledged adverse events has also seemingly been underreported by major news outlets. https://www.acc.co.nz/assets/oia-responses/covid-19-vaccination-claims-refresh-january-2025.pdf
The New Zealand Outdoors and Freedom Party believes that in 2025, four years after the pandemic's onset, it's crucial for the media to present balanced perspectives, as Grant Illingworth said in his interview 'Just Like any court hearing we have to look at both sides of the story." This balanced approach is essential for the media to regain public trust and support, especially considering the perceived lack of coverage surrounding significant public engagement with the Royal Commission of Inquiry and ACC data on vaccine injuries and deaths.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
9 hours ago
- Scoop
Pandemic Perspectives Focus Of COVID-19 Inquiry Public Hearing Next Week
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons Learned will next week hear a range of perspectives on the pandemic as the Inquiry's first public hearing begins. The Inquiry's 'Pandemic Perspectives' public hearing will take place between Monday 7 July and Friday 11 July. This hearing will allow Commissioners to hear from groups, organisations, and individuals from around Aotearoa New Zealand about their experiences of the pandemic and the Government's response to COVID-19. 'The Pandemic Perspectives public hearing will allow us, in the open, to hear a range of experiences as well as suggestions for future pandemic responses. It is important we listen to these voices and ask key questions, so we can develop robust findings and recommendations,' says Grant Illingworth KC, Chair of the Inquiry. Individuals, organisations and experts will talk about the effects of key public health decisions, including social division and isolation, health and education, and business activity. Commissioners are focusing the hearing on three key areas of the Inquiry's terms of reference and that have been key themes raised in public submissions already received by the Inquiry: · Lockdowns in 2021, in particular the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland from September 2021. · Vaccine approvals and safety. · Introduction and use of vaccine mandates throughout 2021 and 2022. The hearing schedule and list of witnesses is available on the Inquiry's website: A second and final public hearing will take place from 20 August to 27 August in Pōneke Wellington, where Commissioners will hear from key decision makers who led the Government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and from senior public servants. 'As Commissioners, our job is to identify lessons from the country's COVID-19 response to ensure that as a nation, we can be better prepared for future pandemics,' says Mr Illingworth. 'Our goal is to provide recommendations – that can be understood by all New Zealanders – to help build a strong response for the future. 'We need a well-organised, resilient, robust defence, and we need to be able to come together as a country to face future pandemics.' Alongside the public hearings, the Inquiry has also held interviews with key decision makers, met with individuals and organisations who experienced the pandemic and the response to it, gathered 31,000 public submissions, and sought extensive written evidence from Government departments and other organisations. 'We are encouraged by and thank the 31,000 of you who shared your experiences through our recent public submissions process. I also thank the huge number of people and organisations we've met in engagements up and down the country. Your experiences and perspectives are vital to our work,' says Mr Illingworth. The 'Pandemic Perspectives' public hearing will be streamed on the Inquiry's website so it can be watched live by the public. Registered media will be able to attend the hearing for reporting purposes. A range of accessible resources will also be available during and after the hearings. Due to physical limitations, the Inquiry cannot accommodate members of the public.
1News
10 hours ago
- 1News
Overseas Kiwis struggle with massive interest, penalties on student loans
A former IRD prosecutor is calling for changes to the student loan system so that Kiwis living overseas aren't put off coming home because they're worried about being arrested at the border. In April, interest rates for overseas borrowers were lifted from 3.9% to 4.9% and the late payment interest rate for all borrowers to 8.9%. Tax barrister Dave Ananth said this is putting people off returning to New Zealand at a time we should be encouraging skilled people to come home. A pilot who's been living in Australia for over 10 years has racked up a whopping $170,000 in student loan debt, most of it being interest. After completing his training in 2014 he struggled to find work in Aotearoa, so he headed across the ditch, where he worked as a commercial pilot for six years. ADVERTISEMENT When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and overseas travel all but ground to a halt, he was forced to take a low-paying job in a storage warehouse meaning he struggled to meet his loan payments. The pilot, who RNZ's Checkpoint has agreed not to name, has since resumed flying for a regional carrier, but worried about an uncertain job market and whether he'd ever pay off his loan. "This loan becomes an ongoing – it becomes a burden and it's not the fact the size of it. There's just no pathway forward as it currently stands." 'I just was deflated' Checkpoint also spoke to a woman who was unable to come home to see her sick mother as she was scared, she'd be arrested at the border. When she moved to the United States 20 years ago, her student loan debt was around $15,000. That had ballooned to close to $70,000. "When they told me how much penalty fees that I had and that was 10 years ago when I first found out about the penalty fees and that was more than my initial student loan and interest combined, I just was deflated." ADVERTISEMENT She received emails from IRD threatening legal action if she didn't pay, but she said she couldn't afford it. "You may think, 'oh no, I'm just going to go to a different country and make all my money there'. "But at some point, in time, when you're older, you're going to want to go back to your roots and see family and friends. I just screwed that up for myself. "Just don't get yourself in this situation like so many of us have where you can't even go home and see family when they're ill. "I've been petrified something's going to happen to my mum and she's going to pass away and I'm not even going to be able to go there." After getting legal help from former IRD prosecutor Dave Ananth, IRD agreed to wipe the penalty fees so she now need only pay the original $15,000 loan and interest. 80,000 overseas-based Kiwis with overdue payments ADVERTISEMENT Student loan. (Source: Ananth, who's a tax barrister with the law firm Stace Hammond, agreed there should be penalties for failure to pay but said these should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. "A lot of them are telling me I've not heard from IRD for the last 10 years, but IRD's perspective is it's your obligation, you should contact. "[It's] that sort of 'Who should contact? I'm away, you haven't rung me, there was no emails', that sort of thing. I think both sides need to come to the table." He also wanted better communication between IRD and the student debtor. "There should be a bit of leeway to say, 'Hey, OK you come in, but come back and talk to us and see whether a hardship application can be made, whether you can pay a few $100 for a start and then we can see how you go'." "For a lot of them because the loan has been taken, 15, 20 years ago they've got their head buried in the sand, they don't want to deal with it. So, it creates a lot of anxiety, creates mental stress for a lot of people." ADVERTISEMENT In the year to March, there were about 80,000 overseas-based student loan borrowers with overdue repayments – that's an increase of 10% on the year before. In total they owed $2.3 billion. Ananth said many people had found the grass wasn't greener overseas. "Everyone doesn't go overseas straight away and then lands in this cushy, $200,000, $300,000 job." He said people working in healthcare, technology, and engineering should be prioritised to help plug gaps in the job market here. Border arrests a last resort - IRD Inland Revenue said between January 23 and February 7 this year they had emailed 3502 borrowers with overdue repayments telling them they're being monitored, and that enforcement may be taken against them. ADVERTISEMENT That could include being arrested at the New Zealand border. But it said border arrests were a last resort, and it would work with people before taking legal action. One borrower in default had been arrested in the past year. IRD said it could consider remission of late payment interest, but on a case-by-case basis. It said borrowers often did not update their contact details when overseas making it harder for the department to contact them. The student loan base interest rate was increased by one percent in the 2024 Budget and was intended to partially cover the loss in value of the scheme due to recent high inflation. IRD did not set the student loan interest or late payment interest rates. "Student loan interest that has been correctly charged on overseas based borrowers student loan accounts cannot be written off under current legislation, nor can Inland Revenue accept any agreement that voids a borrower's liability to repay this. "We always encourage student loan borrowers to contact us directly to discuss their situation. There is no need to engage the services of a lawyer." By Bella Craig for
Otago Daily Times
20 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
No longer a waka for everyone
Former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern was once celebrated around the world, but now only brand Jacinda remains, writes Sir Ian Taylor. Dear Jacinda, This is not the first open letter I have written to you. You may recall there were many during the Covid pandemic. This, however, is by far the most difficult. I recently appeared before the royal commission charged with looking into the handling of the Covid pandemic in 2021-22. It was an opportunity to revisit all the correspondence I shared with you, and government ministers, at the time. I also re-read the many emails and letters I had received from people who found themselves locked on the wrong side of "be kind", cast adrift from the "waka" we were all meant to be on board. The commission will deliver its report, undoubtedly with the benefit of a lot more evidence than I shared, and that's as it should be. But, as I passed through Auckland Airport this week on my way to Europe, your memoir A Different Kind of Power was front and centre. The 22-hour flight seemed the perfect time to address the personal dilemma I am faced with, every time I see the cover of that memoir. In March 2019, when you stood before the world following the Christchurch mosque attacks, wearing a headscarf and offering the words "They are us", I believed I was witnessing something extraordinary. A leader who not only spoke with compassion, but who seemed to embody it. The world noticed, too. In Dubai, your image, projected on to the world's tallest building, went viral. It sent a remarkable message to the world. Here was a woman, a working mum, a world leader, our prime minister, being honoured in a way few other world leaders had ever been. It was here that the "Jacinda" brand was born. "They are us." Just three words, but the world took note. I was travelling a lot at the time. Covid still lay in wait in a place called Wuhan. I had never been prouder to claim I was a Kiwi. Where once the questions were about the All Blacks, The Lord of the Rings or how many sheep we had, now all anyone wanted to know about was our Jacinda. You had become a symbol of enlightened leadership and, I confess, I basked unashamedly in the glow of that recognition. You were us. My belief, my pride, held strong through the early months of the Covid pandemic. Your calm demeanour, the repeated calls to "be kind" reassured a nation facing the unknown. When you told us we were "a team of five million", and that "he waka eke noa — we are all in the waka together", I trusted you. I believed you. And that's how we went into our first lockdown, one of the strictest in the world and, at the time, arguably one of the most effective. For a short period of time we reconnected, not just with each other but with the world around us. The sound of early morning traffic replaced by the sound of tui and bellbirds. Strolling down streets, greeting neighbours, a simple act we had forgotten how to do. Now we took the time to notice each other, respectfully distanced, of course. We came out of that first lockdown the envy of the world. As pictures of the America's Cup in Auckland were beamed to almost a billion people globally, I was inundated with messages from international colleagues asking if they could have Jacinda come take care of them. My response was always one of pride: "Nah mate — she's ours!" But as time passed, the reality began to fray around the edges. The PR slogans "be kind" and "we're all in this together", felt increasingly hollow as divisions deepened and the promises faded into spin. My first open letter to you was an urgent plea. We had done incredibly well, but now was the time to move the focus from saving lives to saving lives and livelihoods. It was not a matter of if, but when, coronavirus would break through our seriously flawed MIQ blockade. We had the skills, we had the knowledge, we had the opportunity to really lead the world when that happened. People put politics aside and tried to help. Offering real solutions, safe, proven ways to save both lives and livelihoods. Business-led initiatives, technology-enabled tracking, controlled pilot programmes. These were not abstract ideas. They were tested, they were ready, and they were offered in good faith. But they were dismissed. Not because they didn't work, but because they didn't fit the narrative. That was the moment I realised, this wasn't leadership any more. It was brand management. The turning point came for me on the day you featured on the cover of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly, in designer clothes, smiling, styled and celebrated. On that same day, I received a heart-wrenching email from a father who had yet to meet his 7-month-old son. He had been brought to New Zealand to contribute his much-needed technical expertise in challenging times for Aotearoa, but the border closed behind him, stranding his pregnant wife overseas. In the same week, I had another message from a son trying to leave MIQ to be with his dying father. He had tested clear three times. The system still said no. And these weren't isolated stories. They were everywhere, if you took the time to listen. People reaching out for someone, anyone, to hear their call. Someone to be kind. These were New Zealanders, or people who had made this country their home, asking only for the chance to be with their families. To do what any of us would hope to do in a time of crisis. Their pain was real, and avoidable. But we were no longer all in the waka together. Thousands had been cast adrift. Fathers kept from the birth of their children. Dying loved ones left without final goodbyes. Families cruelly separated by a system that, even when shown better ways to operate, refused to budge. The brand that was so carefully nurtured at those 1pm "single source of truth" press conferences, reinforced internationally by features like your Vogue cover story, had matured into a global product, ready for sale. Reports say you received over a million dollars in advance for your memoir, A Different Kind of Power . It's a striking figure, especially for someone who once made child poverty her personal mission. You didn't just speak about it, you took on the portfolio yourself, armed with the unprecedented power of a parliamentary majority and the goodwill of a nation ready for change. You had the platform. You had the mandate. And yet today, child poverty remains largely unchanged. The capital gains tax was another moment you could have seized with that majority. But the brand shifted and, somewhere along the way, so too had the ideals that once gave me hope. Children are still suffering from poverty; guns remain in the hands of those who used them to cause the most harm. The Christchurch Call has failed to limit online violence and hate, and Brian Tamaki and his Destiny Church still feel free to march in Aotearoa spewing their anti-immigrant vitriol. "They are us" has disappeared down the same dark hole as "be kind", "the team of five million" and "he waka eke noa — we are all in the waka together". Now, only brand Jacinda remains, and you are back on the cover of those lifestyle magazines, interviews on radio and TV, and there — that image that has weighed on me over the past few weeks. The cover of A Different Kind of Power . "He waka mō ko tahi". The journey is complete. The waka is now the waka for one. ■Dunedin businessman Sir Ian Taylor is the founder and managing director of Animation Research. He was named the 2019 New Zealand Innovator of the Year and in 2020 was named the Deloitte Top 200 Visionary Leader. He was knighted in 2021.
