New Zealand’s Royal Commission of Inquiry into the handling of COVID-19 has lost three key figures as it embarks on its second phase.
Executive Director Helen Potiki and two lawyers assisting—Kristy McDonald KC and Nick Whittington—have resigned, with Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden saying she doesn’t want to speculate on their reasons why.
She said the Commission was independent of the government, and she was not responsible for the counsel assisting, who had been appointed by Crown Law.
“As minister, I am not responsible for individual employment matters within the department and Royal Commission, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on them,” she said in a statement.
However, local media reported that all three had concerns about the inquiry’s processes and that other staff shared those concerns.
Potiki had only been in the role since October 2024.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is aware of the resignations but has passed on requests for comment to van Velden as he is overseas, leading a business delegation to Vietnam.
The minister said that, based on the quarterly report provided to her by the Commissioners, she now has concerns that timeframes set for the inquiry to report may not be met.
“I requested to meet with the Chair of the Commission to be given assurance that the final report will be delivered on time and within budget,” she said.
“I have no plans to change the phase two Royal Commission of Inquiry at this stage.”
The first phase of the inquiry—planned by the outgoing Labour government to be the only examination of pandemic response—was led by Australian-based epidemiologist Tony Blakely, former National Party Cabinet minister Hekia Parata, and former Treasury secretary John Whitehead.
Phase Two Inquiry a Condition of Coalition Partners
When ACT and NZ First negotiated their coalition agreements with National, both demanded a second phase, broadening the terms of reference and ensuring it was a “full scale, wide-ranging, independent inquiry conducted publicly, with [evidence from] local and international experts.”A budget of $14 million was allocated, with commissioners to be paid a daily rate of $1,620, the same as for the first phase.
Litigation specialist Grant Illingworth KC was appointed as chairperson, along with Judy Kavanagh and Anthony Hill, who have experience in economics and public health, respectively.
Launching the phase two inquiry in August last year, van Velden said its purpose was to “review key decisions taken by the government in 2021 and 2022 related to the use of vaccines and the use of lockdowns, in particular the extended lockdowns in Auckland and Northland.
“The inquiry will assess whether key decisions struck a reasonable balance between public health goals and social and economic disruption such as health and education outcomes [and] the impact of decisions taken on inflation, debt, and business activity.”
Labour’s Health spokesperson, Dr. Ayesha Verrall, said she was concerned to hear about the resignations and that the opposition had concerns about the political nature of phase two.
She noted that the first phase of the inquiry had delivered its report last year, containing 39 recommendations.
However, the government was “yet to act on them—particularly around preparedness of the health system—at a time when significant numbers of people are being laid off at Health NZ.
“I worry about what a pandemic response might look like today, given the state of our health system under this government,” Verrall said.
