Professor Tony Blakely, Chair of New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into the COVID-19 response, has delivered a report calling for a reevaluation of the use of lockdowns and vaccine mandates in “future pandemics”.
While acknowledging the necessity of certain measures, Blakely argued they were applied too broadly and harshly, undermining public trust and cohesion.
Blakely described New Zealand’s pandemic response as a “game of two halves.”
He praised the country’s initial success in controlling the virus but highlighted growing social division during prolonged restrictions. He stressed the importance of proportionate public health measures, stating that while mandates for frontline workers “were justifiable”, broader applications led to significant social harm.
Blakely’s report includes 39 recommendations, among them:
- Reducing reliance on lockdowns and stringent mandates in future pandemics.
- Focusing vaccine mandates only where benefits significantly outweigh social harms.
- Strengthening public health infrastructure, such as contact tracing systems.
- “Enhancing preparedness” to mitigate future pandemics effectively.
Blakely said there was a need to act on these recommendations immediately, cautioning that “the next pandemic may not be far away.”
Blakely’s role as chair has come under scrutiny. Critics allege significant conflicts of interest, questioning his impartiality in evaluating the government’s Covid-19 response. He has been described by some critics as New Zealand’s “shadow Director-General of Health”, and a “Labour patsy”.
Some of the allegations include:
- Close Ties with Key Decision-Makers: Blakely is said to have strong connections with key figures in New Zealand’s pandemic response, including Ashley Bloomfield and Michael Baker. Critics claim he actively participated in formulating policies he was later tasked with evaluating.
- Moderna Links: His previous work for vaccine manufacturer Moderna raised concerns about his neutrality regarding vaccine-related decisions.
- Research Affiliations: Blakely’s co-authorship of studies on New Zealand’s response with Michael Baker and other policymakers has fuelled accusations of bias.
Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, labelled him a “Labour patsy” and described him as “massively conflicted”.
Other groups, such as NZDSOS, have highlighted perceived shortcomings in Blakely’s approach, including his support for the controversial mRNA technology and managed quarantine, as well as his apparent dismissal of vaccine harm concerns. They criticised the inquiry as secretive and lacking accountability.
Critics also argue the measures adopted by the Ardern government were well-known at the time to cause the significant issues with mandates and lockdowns highlighted in Blakely’s report, but this science was ignored by the government and legacy media acting in concert to drive an agenda of control and fear. Public outcry over the untested, dangerous and ineffective mRNA gene therapy (marketed to the public as a Covid ‘vaccine’) was also ignored. These failures are fuelling calls for politicians, legacy media, and government ‘experts’ to be held criminally liable for their actions during the ‘pandemic’.
Speaking recently Donald Trump’s new appointee to head the National Institutes of Health, Prof Jay Bhattacharya said:
The covid era was the golden age of science denial. Closed schools, immunity denial, lockdowns, toddler masking, vaccine mandates, vax harm denial, and of course censorship to suppress opposition to a failed ‘expert’ class. The Science ™ must be replaced by science …
A relatively small group – a cartel almost – of very powerful scientific bureaucrats took over the whole apparatus of science, dominated the media, dominated the message to politicians.
Blakely will now step down as chair following the delivery of this report, with Grant Illingworth KC set to lead the second phase of the inquiry, which will expand its scope to explore vaccine harms and other critical issues. Blakely defended his findings, stating that they should be implemented promptly, irrespective of ongoing criticisms.
This article was originally published by the Daily Telegraph New Zealand.
