Auditor-General John Ryan has found New Zealand could have and should have been better prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ryan ran a ruler over the all-of-Ggovernment response during the year of 2020 and his report released this afternoon found New Zealand's pandemic plans were outdated and confusing.
"It is fair to say that no system or plan could have fully prepared New Zealand for Covid-19's impact," Ryan said.
"I did not expect to find that the response was straightforward or perfect. It is inevitable that, in these circumstances, things would not always go as planned."
Ryan praised public servants for their work during the pandemic, but found many officials had limited understanding of emergency management arrangements and the governance of these plans could have be better.
New Zealand could not simply rely on the actions of good people and systemic preparedness and a willing to respond to recommendations must be factors in any pandemic response, he added.
"Before it emerged, there were shortcomings in our national security, emergency management, and health systems that could have affected the effectiveness and efficiency of the response. Some of these shortcomings arose because recommendations from previous reviews had not been fully implemented."
His report said the government must demonstrate it was taking action to be better prepared next time.
The government should already be making substantive and enduring changes to ensure that we awere better prepared for the next emergency or crisis, he said.
"In my view, we must avoid what the World Health Organization calls a cycle of 'panic then forget' when it comes to responding to emergencies.
"As a country, we rely on government to appropriately resource and actively maintain arrangements for dealing with emergencies and other crises.
"New Zealanders need assurance that regularly reviewed strategies and plans are in place to deal with these types of events."
Ryan was pleased to see the government had recently announced a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its Covid-19 response.
"We hope this report will be a useful source of information for the inquiry to consider and is helpful to its work. There is still much to learn, including from the later years of the Government's response, and we should not miss this opportunity," Ryan said.
"We should not wait until mid-2024, when the Royal Commission's report is due, to see the changes that we already know are required to be implemented."
