1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,520 Speaker 1: Look, I think what many of us are experiencing right 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: now Regisinda and Grant and Chippy and Icehare not fronting 3 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: publicly for the COVID inquiry is not disappointment, because disappointment 4 00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: requires us to have had a higher expectation of them, 5 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: and I don't think that we did, because I think 6 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: we got the measure of these people a long time ago. 7 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: I think what we're experiencing right now is a sense 8 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of injustice because these people had the power, and they 9 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: used that power to do things to our lives that 10 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: no other politicians in the history of this country have done. 11 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: They told us not to leave our homes. They shut 12 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: the border so that we couldn't leave the country or 13 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: come back in. They ended some businesses through their rules. 14 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: They effectively forced people out of jobs for not taking 15 00:00:39,640 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: a vaccine that I would say most of us don't 16 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: even bother with. Now. Now, we can argue about whether 17 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: any of that or all of that was justified, but 18 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: I don't think we can argue about how massive that was. 19 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: It was huge, unprecedented power. Now, with power comes responsibility 20 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: and accountability, and that's where they're letting us down because 21 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: they are refusing to be held accountable, even if just 22 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: answering questions in front of us for us to be 23 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,479 Speaker 1: able to see it now right or wrong. Their actions 24 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: during COVID caused so many people to lose faith in government. 25 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: This was their chance, I think, to restore that a 26 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: little bit. Instead, what they're doing is they causing us 27 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: to lose even more faith in government. If these people 28 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: ever tell themselves or us that they are here to serve, 29 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 1: it is utter bs. They're not here to serve. If 30 00:01:21,319 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: they were, every single one of them would put their 31 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: country's expectations of answers ahead of their own ambitions. But 32 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: they're not. It's more important for Jacinda to keep managing 33 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: her brand and living her best international life of Glamour. 34 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: More important for Grant Robertson to keep pulling in that 35 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: six hundred and thirty thousand dollars a year at Otago. 36 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: More important for Chippy to try to have another go, 37 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: deluded at being Prime Minister again. More important for I 38 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: should to preserve whatever credibility she has left as a 39 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: health academic. But they should know. They can delay accountability, 40 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: but they cannot prevent accountability. They will be held accountable, 41 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,279 Speaker 1: maybe through a future commission of inquiry one day, maybe 42 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: just through the history books that eventually trash their reputations. 43 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: History has trashed so many other politicians, including Muldoons. Either 44 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: way add to the long list of unpleasant things that 45 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,959 Speaker 1: we've learned about them. We can now add cowardice to 46 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: that list too. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, 47 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: listen live to news Talks it'd B from four pm weekdays, 48 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.