Seeing The Wood For The Trees
Yesterday was a big day.
On the eve of the commencement of Phase Two of the Covid Inquiry, Phase One Commissioners Blakely and Whitehead handed their report to the Government.
ACT Minister Brooke van Velden announced in August that she would not release this report until as late as 2026, a message repeated right up to yesterday morning. Unexpectedly, this decision was reversed by 2 pm, with the report made available to the public, all 713 pages of it!
A Glass Half-Empty
Online sentiment emerged thick and fast, with people claiming the report to be a whitewash, a waste of money, a complete joke, missing chunks, a nothing-burger, etc.
While we understand where people are coming from with their frustration, disappointment, and dismissiveness, and we probably agree about the report, we choose to look at the situation differently.
Taking Advantage of a Situation…
We’ve been outspoken in our opinion that the Phase One inquiry was unlikely to yield any beneficial results with respect to investigating our community’s concerns.
So, with your help, we lobbied for a fresh inquiry with a broader and deeper scope, which was granted with the Phase Two announcement earlier this year and the adoption of many of The People’s Terms (at least in theory – we shall see what happens!).
However, just because Phase One was not satisfactorily powered to investigate the critical topics didn’t mean we should look a gift horse in the mouth when it came to being involved! (You know I want to say something about horses here, but I shall refrain!)
Being invited to meet with the commissioners presented an opportunity, and we weren’t about to squander it.
Why We’re Chalking Up a Win
We’ve never been fans of white knights. There are no saviours in this situation. Not politicians, not commissioners, not celebrities. If we want change, we must roll up our sleeves and make it happen ourselves.
Taking responsibility is a liberating and empowering action. It requires anger and resentment to be set aside to sharpen one’s focus.
When it comes to accountability for the Covid years, we are playing a long game – one where our opponents don’t play by the rules and have paid off the ref. There’s no point crying about that; we just have to take a deep breath and get on with the job.
Our aim is not to force the authorities to bend to our will by endlessly complaining but to think smart, shift public opinion strategically, and use that public pressure to drive change. That plan is working, bit by bit, by bit.
What Matters is This:
- The talking points we shared in our meetings with the commissioners have been adopted and repeated in the corporate media, legitimising our serious concerns and our desire for sunlight, accountability, and change.
We’ve helped to seed an idea in the public space, and the more we all talk and share, the faster those seeds will sprout and grow! - Commissioner Blakely conceded in an RNZ interview after our meetings that societal divisions run deep in the wake of Covid and that “many people have felt and actually been wronged”.
This was a big one. A person in a position of authority publicly admitted that the harms many of us have suffered are real. While we don’t need his acknowledgement, it helps signal to the public, media and government that our concerns are valid. - In yesterday’s Stuff interview, Blakely also admitted publicly that his discussions with VFF moved his thinking, particularly on the vaccine mandates.
Never underestimate the power of a story – your stories had observable impact and shifted the commissioners’ thinking! - When reporter Lloyd Burr resorted to the lazy and tired “conspiracy theory” label for VFF, Blakely respectfully corrected him, stating that he found his engagements with us “incredibly illuminating” and that he “got a lot out of it”. He also argued we had a “very valid perspective scientifically and socially”.
When the public hears remarks like this, acceptance of our position and other talking points increases. When the legacy media hears remarks like this, the realisation dawns that they have lost control of the narrative. And when your sister, uncle or father hears remarks like this, your arguments from the past five years are validated.
We aren’t going to get from A to O (for orange jumpsuit) in one leap; instead, we must move nimbly and deliberately, working towards the wins, celebrating our successes along the way and relentlessly setting our sights on the next goal.
With this report, we can tick another one off. Next in our sights? Nailing Phase Two!
STAND UP. SPEAK OUT!
Alia x
P.S. Want To Help?
Remember, the more we share content highlighting our mission, the faster we achieve change!
- Take this opportunity to spark conversation with others – what do they think of the inquiry?
- Share the ‘Ardern Puppet’ meme above with your friends and family.
- Share these two videos featuring Commissioner Blakely praising VFF’s message on your social media (click on them to find our X posts).
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