Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I see nothing's changed in camp Jacinda

Looks like nothing's changed in camp Jacinda, has it?

You will get no admission that she and her Government got anything wrong during Covid, from what I can gather.

Now, this is my disclaimer - I haven't actually read the entire memoir just yet. But from what I've skim read and from what I've read and heard in the reviews, and what I've read and heard with her interviews promoting the book, if you are looking for her to admit that she got anything wrong at all during Covid, you're not going to find it.

The closest thing I found is on page 309, where she admits that she made 'imperfect decisions', but that's really underselling the massive balls-up that was our Covid response, wasn't it?

What you get instead is multiple excuses, heaps of verbal fluff to avoid answering hard questions and, regularly, the defence that we saved 20,000 lives.

Here's an example - she gave an interview to RNZ's Jessie Mulligan where he asked her about vaccine mandates, which we now know, of course, was a huge mistake that cost people their jobs simply because they wouldn't get the jab in which the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid said damaged 'social cohesion'.

Would she agree with that, he asked.

She said she wouldn't argue with their findings. He then asked her, did vaccine mandates save any lives?

She said - she's not the one that can answer that question for you, although apparently she can tell you that she did save 20,000 lives, she just can't talk about this particular instance.

And then she goes on to say that the Commission did also say that vaccine mandates were important in areas like healthcare and so on, and we're relatively limited, but again, I won't argue with their findings.

So, not a yes, not a no - and definitely not an apology.

Now, I don't actually know why I was expecting anything else from her. I mean, this was a feature of Jacinda during Covid. 

She would never say she did anything wrong, which is why it got worse and worse as she barrelled full steam ahead in the wrong direction at times - because apparently going full steam ahead in the wrong direction was better than admitting she was headed in the wrong direction.

And of course she got things wrong. I mean, anyone would have. She made thousands and thousands of decisions over multiple years. She would 100 percent have got at least one of those decisions wrong, do you not think?

It would be nice just to hear her admit it, because I think it would help some of us - and I'm talking about me here - to forgive her.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Heather due for Celo.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Looks like nothing's changed in Camp Jasinda has it. You
will get no admission that she and her government got
anything wrong during COVID, from what I can gather now.
To be fair, this is my disclaimer. I haven't actually
read the entire memoir just yet, but from what I've
skim read, and from what I've read and heard in
the reviews, and what I've read and heard with her
interviews promoting the book, if you are looking for her

(00:22):
to admit that she got anything wrong at all during COVID,
you're not going to find it. The closest thing I
found is on page three hundred and nine, where she
admits that she made quote imperfect decisions. But that's really
underselling the massive balls up that was our COVID's response,
wasn't it. What you get instead is multiple excuses, heaps
of verbal fluff to avoid answering hard questions, and regularly

(00:45):
the defense of we saved twenty thousand lives. Here's an
example of Camp. So she gave an interview to Arenz's
Jesse Mulligan where he asked her about vaccine mandates, which
we now know, of course, was a huge mistake. That
cost people their job simply because they wouldn't get the
jab in which the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID
said damaged social cohesion. Would she agree with that, he

(01:08):
asked her. She said she wouldn't argue with their findings.
He then asked her, did vaccine mandates save any lives?
She said, she's not the one that can answer that
question for you, although apparently she can't tell you that
she did save twenty thousand lives. She just can't talk
about this particular instance. And then she goes on to
say that the Commission did also say that vaccine mandates

(01:28):
were important in areas like health care and so on,
and we're relatively limited. But again I won't argue with
their findings. So not a yes, not a no, and
definitely definitely not an apology. Now I don't actually know
why I was expecting anything else from her. I mean,
this was a feature of Jacinda during COVID. She would
never say she did anything wrong, which is why it

(01:49):
got worse and worse as she barreled full steam ahead
in the wrong direction at times, because apparently going full
steam ahead in the wrong direction was better than admitting
she was headed in the wrong direction, and of course
she got things wrong. I mean, anyone would have. She
made thousands and thousands of decisions over multiple years. She
would one hundred percent have got at least one of
those decisions wrong. Do you not think it would be

(02:11):
nice just to hear her admit it, because I think
it would help some of us, and I'm talking about
me here to forgive.

Speaker 1 (02:17):
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