By Ron Law

As the New Zealand Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Government’s Covid-19 Response continues, the public deserves far more than a sanitised PR narrative. We deserve the truth—and the Commission must have the backbone to deliver it.

What unfolded during the Covid-19 response wasn’t merely a crisis management effort under pressure. It became a textbook case of state-led disinformation, expertly packaged as science, repeated endlessly by officials and the media, and enforced with devastating consequences for those who dared to question it.

It’s often said that in war, “truth is so precious that it must be guarded by a battalion of lies.” During our recent public health crisis, the battalion showed up in full force—complete with slogans, suppression, and the systematic dismantling of professional dissent.

The phrase “safe and effective” became not just a mantra, but a political weapon—deployed to compel obedience, justify mandates, and silence the inconvenient. The Prime Minister, Director-General of Health, and Ministry of Health all leaned heavily into the narrative. Their words were echoed in public briefings, media headlines, and perhaps most egregiously, in the official Informed Consent Information Form, which was handed to every person lining up for their Pfizer shot.

Let’s take a closer look.

Four Key Examples of Government Disinformation:

1. Dr Ashley Bloomfield stated during a promotional interview with Medsafe’s Chris James that Medsafe had followed a rigorous process and had “established the vaccine as safe and effective.” This was false. Medsafe’s internal documents clearly stated that safety and efficacy had not been confirmed.

2. Bloomfield also claimed that New Zealand had more data than other countries because our approval came later, and we had “more evidence to draw on.” This too was false. Medsafe received the same November 2020 Pfizer data as other countries—well before large-scale overseas use had generated meaningful real-world evidence.

3. The Prime Minister publicly announced the vaccine was safe and effective, following what she called a “very carefully considered and robust process.” She claimed:

• “The government is absolutely committed to ensuring the vaccines are safe and effective.”
• “Medsafe provides independent advice… Approval has been a very carefully considered and robust process, with safety the key priority.”
• “Medsafe’s decision is the culmination of a rigorous assessment… informed by the most up-to-date medical and scientific data.”

All of these statements contradict Medsafe’s own clinical assessment documents and MAAC minutes: that approval was granted without confirmation of safety or efficacy, based solely on “clinical need” and a calculated risk-benefit assumption.

4. The Ministry of Health’s Informed Consent Form claimed the vaccine had been approved “after following the normal robust procedure” and had been found to be “safe and effective.”
This is demonstrably false. There was nothing “normal” about the process, and Medsafe explicitly concluded it could not confirm either safety or effectiveness. What the public received was not informed consent—it was manufactured confidence—AKA Disinformation.

Meanwhile, professionals who dared to speak up—those who were curious, and then brave—were crushed. Silenced by the state, vilified in state-funded media, and professionally dismantled by state-appointed councils.

It’s hard to ignore the irony. In November 2023, behind closed doors at a luxurious event in Singapore—reportedly for a fee of USD $200,000—former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern advised young people to “never stop being curious and never stop being brave.”

At home, those who lived by that advice were professionally executed.

And all of this takes place in a country that annually commemorates the bravery and sacrifices of ANZAC soldiers at Gallipoli—a campaign marked not by triumph, but by failure. A catastrophe rooted in misinformation, disinformation, and leadership failure. Tens of thousands of soldiers were landed on the wrong beaches because those in command, buoyed by flawed intelligence and arrogance, got it wrong.

Early historians tried to frame Gallipoli as a story of courage and valour. And yes, there was courage—but the truth is, the disaster was a result of leadership failure, miscommunication, and deception. 

Sound familiar?

The full history of Gallipoli remains relevant today. The brave were sent into harm’s way based on misinformation and dysfunctional leadership. Those who challenged leadership during war weren’t honoured—they were forgotten. Anyone who challenged leadership in the trenches was shot for subordination or desertion.

And no, this isn’t just about the past. We’re told—right on cue—that another pandemic is inevitable. “It’s not a matter of if, but when,” they say. We know that, because—like an incantation at a religious gathering—the mathematical modellers chant it endlessly, armed with supercomputers that still can’t predict last week’s weather. 

But fear, after all, is a powerful tool—it keeps the public pliant, gives bureaucrats a licence for ever more draconian planning, and ensures pharmaceutical profits remain comfortably, even obscenely, inflated.

The Royal Commission now faces a similar moment of reckoning. It must not only examine what happened during New Zealand’s Covid-19 response but confront why it happened—and who paid the price for telling the truth.

It must recommend the full exoneration and professional restoration of those who were punished for daring to challenge the state’s carefully controlled narrative.

The Commissioners of the Royal Commission must ensure that this never happens again. The machinery of fear must never be allowed to override science, suppress dissent, or destroy professional lives in the name of manufactured certainty ever again — Lest we forget.

If the Royal Commission wants to retain even a shred of credibility, it must tear through the fog. It must separate science from spin. It must shine light where darkness has been weaponised. And it must tell the truth.

Lest we forget.