Acknowledge­ments He mihi

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world. The response to the pandemic required extraordinary effort, sacrifice and resilience from all of us.

Considering the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the national response to it, it is no surprise that completing our Inquiry has been a collaborative undertaking. Our work as Commissioners has benefited from the inputs and insights we received from thousands of New Zealanders, both here and overseas, and from our networks of international colleagues.

These contributions came through many channels. Between February 2023 and September 2024, we met with more than 1,600 individuals from across Aotearoa New Zealand and from overseas. We would like to acknowledge and thank each of you for generously sharing your pandemic experiences and insights.

Thank you to the nearly 13,000 individuals, whānau (families) and organisations who made submissions to the Inquiry. We know that sharing these experiences could be difficult for people. We appreciate the time and effort each submission took and are grateful for them all.

Thank you to everyone who provided written evidence to the Inquiry. We greatly appreciate the time and effort that went into preparing and submitting this material to us.

While our task has been primarily to recommend how Aotearoa New Zealand can prepare for and respond to a future pandemic, we also want to acknowledge the enormous effort of everyone who delivered the response to the last pandemic, COVID-19. We know that without your tireless work and dedication, New Zealand’s response would have fallen far short.

“Chairing this Inquiry has been both a huge privilege and a genuinely stimulating and rewarding task.”

Professor Tony Blakely

Thank you to the healthcare and essential workers, the social service providers and the educators for the work you did under challenging circumstances. To Aotearoa New Zealand’s communities and leaders – iwi, Pacific peoples and ethnic communities. To the non-governmental organisations, volunteers and others who supported the people who were most vulnerable to the pandemic or impacted by it. To everyone who made sure the information necessary to safely navigate through COVID-19 was provided. To those who kept the workers employed, and to those who kept working during the pandemic. To those who provided the necessary services for life – food, water, electricity.

To those who did their best to ensure that life’s milestones – births, deaths, marriages – could still be celebrated and honoured in some way, despite the challenges. To those who made sure access to government and public services (the courts, social assistance, housing and more) was maintained. To those who helped people safely return to or leave Aotearoa New Zealand, including the country’s offshore workforce, or who were deployed to the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities. To the New Zealand Police and Defence Force personnel who kept everyone safe, even when it sometimes meant being in harm’s way.

To those across Aotearoa New Zealand who lifted people’s spirits and drew them together through arts, culture and sport. To all those who supported their whānau, friends and neighbours through uncertain times. To the kiwi diaspora living overseas, who relayed much-appreciated information and aroha from elsewhere even when they could not easily make it home in person. To those who had to make the difficult decisions that would affect the entire nation.

Under extraordinary circumstances, you all displayed remarkable resilience, compassion and commitment that helped get Aotearoa New Zealand through the pandemic: a heartfelt thank you.

We also want to record our thanks to the people who made the Inquiry tick and this report a reality. Firstly, thank you to former Commissioner, the Honourable Hekia Parata (Ngati Porou, Ngāi Tahu) for your significant contribution to Phase One. Thank you to Dr Justine Cornwall, Executive Director of the Inquiry, for your hard work and leadership, and your tireless enthusiasm and commitment despite the scale of the task. Thank you to Anita West, whose early and able leadership enabled a quick and efficient establishment of the Inquiry – and recruitment of an outstanding Secretariat team. Thank you to Jane Meares and Asher Emanuel, Counsel Assisting for the Inquiry, for your exemplary legal expertise. And thank you to every member of the Secretariat, for your tireless efforts to collect and analyse evidence, organise engagements, communicate with our stakeholders, coordinate the natural justice process, assist with drafting the report and many more tasks besides – it has been a privilege to work with you. Our thanks also to the Department of Internal Affairs who supported the Inquiry, and in particular to the Department’s Chief Executive, Paul James.

A huge thank you to those in the government and private sectors who helped us connect effectively with important communities, raised awareness of our work, ensured many New Zealanders could contribute to the Inquiry through a public submission or an in-person conversation, and supported us with the analysis of the public submissions we received. We could not have done it without you.

Finally, we would like to thank our partners for their encouragement and support throughout our work on the Inquiry.

“I sincerely hope that our Phase One work – and indeed Phase Two – will make a real difference for this country that I am so proud of.”

John Whitehead