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A major MAJOR question which needs to be asked is why the NZ Government and other "western" governments around the world thought they needed to "reinvent the wheel" when it came to pandemic management. It certainly was NOT true when Jacinda Ardern claimed that we had "no playbook" for dealing with the situation. We had an established, science and experience backed pandemic plan (https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/influenza-pandemic-plan-framework-action-2nd-edn-aug17.pdf), associated ethical guidelines (https://neac.health.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/NEAC/publications/getting-through-together-jul07.pdf), and associated legislation, all perfectly adequate with dealing with the situation. (The title of the pandemic plan refers to influenza, but there is a clear statement in the plan that it is suitable for a SARS type virus). Why was this basically abandoned in favour of experimental "lockdown" strategies imported from China? Why all of a sudden was it no longer suitable? Why did nobody in the media ask this question of the government of the time? I attempted many times to get someone in government to answer this question but I was either ignored or fobbed off. The whole matter frustrates me no end.

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My thoughts exactly. I recall my first reaction to the “no playbook” comment being: “So when will the team that put the recently prepared Pandemic Response plan at great cost to the taxpayer get hauled over the coals and demoted?” Nothing, nada. My conclusion: All sleight of hand. And that from a government that loved to talk about Disinformation and Misinformation - bunch of hypocrites.

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Some time back I put in an OIA request asking various questions about who prepared the 2017 plan and how much it cost and got a very general answer: "The project was managed by existing Ministry staff and costs relating to editing, formatting and publication managed within baseline funding." I wonder how these "existing Ministry staff" feel about their work being sidelined in favour of some politically motivated pandemic response designed to make the government and in particular its "leader" look the "best in the world" albeit for a short period.

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