Too Little, Too Late PPE Rollout Shows We Were Lucky All Along
“The
Government’s announcement of more funding for PPE is being
used to erase any hint of its inept management of the
issue,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The Prime
Minister has tried to rewrite the history of her
Government’s response to Covid-19, in particular the claim
that it ‘went hard and early’. “According to the
Government, we were steered through the Covid-19 crisis by
the wise leadership of Jacinda Ardern. “In reality,
we were lucky all along. More of the credit belongs to the
fact that New Zealand is surrounded by a natural moat.
Almost all of the countries that have beaten Covid-19 are
island nations. “The Prime Minister will now use
this additional funding for PPE to claim the Government was
on top of the issue all along. “In reality,
today’s announcement is an acknowledgement that its
handling of the issue has been completely
inept. “The media and frontline health workers have
exposed the Government’s incompetence on PPE and the
Auditor-General’s damning investigation found countless
failings. “The Prime Minister’s assurances back in
March that sufficient PPE stocks existed now appear totally
implausible given a later Auditor-General report found the
Ministry of Health didn’t know how much stock it
had. “The Government should have moved to shore up
PPE supplies weeks ago at the height of the
crisis. “ACT said back in May that we needed to
expand our public health budget, but the Government is just
getting around to it now. “The Auditor-General
identified a number of significant failings in the
Government’s management of PPE during the Covid-19
pandemic. “It didn't know how much PPE it had, how
much had expired, or how much would be needed. Mixed
messaging had led to confusion and different DHBs had
inconsistent information. The demand model didn't take into
account frontline healthcare workers and there were gaps in
planning. “At every stage of the Covid-19 crisis,
New Zealanders have been one step ahead of the
Government’s slow and inadequate response. “The
Government has one job: get the public health response right
so that we can begin to open up the economy, create new
jobs, and start to repay the
debt.”