Now that we have a fresh green crop of parliamentarians, there is hope that we will finally talk openly about the actions of the World Health Organisation.
This unelected Switzerland-based bureaucracy is seeking global control of health measures, digitalisation of health documents, compliance and implementation.
And if we don’t opt out of current amendments to its International Health Regulations, it will be taken that we, the people, give permission for this distant body to declare health emergencies, demand lockdowns, mandate vaccines, tell you what medical products you can and cannot use and prevent you from travelling. All this at great expense.
Lack of interest from mainstream media and the Labour government, means that New Zealand citizens are largely unaware of significance of this drive to take command of the world’s health, putting the WHO’s unelected Director General on the throne.
There’s still no conversation with us, the people
These things have not been discussed and information sought via the Official Information Act has been hard to come by.
Nearly five months after seeking official information, I received a response from the Ombudsman’s office last week, with an apology for not addressing my questions earlier.
I’m told that the topic of the World Health Assembly is ‘not traditionally raised in Parliament’.
(The World Health Assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation. Delegates decide the policy agenda and strategies that best meet WHO’s public health goals.)
So, our delegates to this body are deciding our future for us, yet there is no debate in Parliament.
Where are the reporters?
Where are the politicians?
The Ombudsman’s Office late responses to my questions, requested back in May, are attributed to an unnamed government spokesperson, as follows:
Who is charged with voting for New Zealand, as a member state?
“At the World Health Assembly, the delegate charged with voting New Zealand positions for technical health matters is the Head of Delegation or their alternate – in the case of the 2023 World Health Assembly, DG Health (Director General) or DDG (Deputy Director General) Health. For geopolitical and foreign policy issues, voting is undertaken by senior staff from the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, either the Ambassador or Deputy Ambassador.”
New Zealand’s address was given by Dr Andrew Old on behalf of Dr Diane Sarfati who was unwell.
(Diane Sarfati became acting Director-General of Health In July 2022, replacing Dr Ashley Bloomfield. In November 2022 she was confirmed as the permanent Director-General for a period of five years. Dr Bloomfield was New Zealand’s Director-General of Health from 2018 to 2022 and the public-facing health specialist liaising with the media during the COVID - 19 pandemic on behalf of the government. Andrew Old is the Ministry of Health’s Deputy Director-General and head of its public health agency.)
Have the issues to be decided at this assembly been discussed in Parliament?
“The World Health Assembly is an annual conference of governments, focused on technical and global health policy issues. Each year, New Zealand positions/statements are prepared by the Ministry of Health (as the Government’s policy lead for the WHO) in consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (as the Government’s policy lead for the United Nations more broadly). These are approved by the Director-General of Health, and in our experience, the topic of the Assembly is not traditionally raised in Parliament.”
Are you preparing a media statement to explain the issues and the procedure?
“Ministry of Health officials represent New Zealand at World Health Assemblies each year. Should a Minister of Health attend the World Health Assembly as our country’s Head of Delegation, as was the case last year, a press release would traditionally be issued by their office.”
Others have tried to squeeze information out from the Government.
Greg Rzesniowiecki’s complaint to the Ombudsman’s Office relates to two petitions for referendums, relating to the Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations.
His OIA request was first made in April 2022. There are still unresolved requests for information before the Ombudsman's office and the Ministry of Health.
NZ Doctors Speaking out with Science is a collective of NZ doctors who stand for medical freedom, informed consent and call for open debate on public health issues.
The Ombudsman has recently dismissed its long-standing complaint, saying that the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to respond to it.
NZDSOS asks, how does it take 25 months for a department to understand their own jurisdiction?
Their complaint outlined concerns relating to:
The Medical Council of New Zealand’s (MCNZ) April 2021 guidance statement which breached medical practitioners’ professional responsibility to patients and the public as well as MCNZ’s own guidelines on informed consent;
Evidence contradicting claims of mRNA injections being ‘safe and effective’;
Lack of engagement despite repeated attempts to enter into dialogue with MCNZ, Medsafe, Dr Ashley Bloomfield (then Director-General of Health) and all sitting members of parliament.
NZDSOS shows concern about the upcoming Royal Commission of Inquiry.
The Terms of Reference exclude vaccine safety.
“Curiously, our biggest concern – the lack of safety of the vaccine and the extent of harm caused by the vaccine – appears to fall into a void. Nowhere in the Summary of Terms of Reference is the word ‘safety’ mentioned, either in the list of things to be considered or the list of exclusions.
“Perhaps Ombudsman Peter Boshier could advise what legal remedy there might be for the public, since he is unable to question possible lies, deception or incompetence by the Cabinet.”
The Royal Commission got underway earlier this year and is due to present its report in September 2024.
The three commissioners are:
John Whitehead – economist
Hekia Parata – former National Cabinet Minister
Professor Tony Blakely (chair) – epidemiologist and public health specialist. During the COVID-19 pandemic he undertook research on the impact of public health and social measures on the spread of the virus and provided media commentary in both Australia and New Zealand.
According to the Royal Commission of Inquiry website, the public submissions process will open in November 2023.
There will not be in-person meetings for members of the public: “We’ll be conducting the Inquiry in a non-adversarial way that supports identifying key lessons, by making it easy for people to share their experience. This means the way we seek information and gather evidence will be less formal than holding public hearings, for example. Our focus is on what we can learn to ensure New Zealand is prepared for the future, not on assigning blame or finding fault.”
In the meantime, the WHO’s Working Group on International Health Regulations will present its final text to the World Health Assembly in May 2024.
Co-chair of this group is New Zealand’s Ashley Bloomfield.
Agreement requires just 50 per cent of the member states.
It’s up to our delegates.
Swiss lawyer Philipp Kruse sounds an international warning that the WHO’s strong pressure to extend its powers and its structural and financial capacities, ‘will have permanent effect over the sovereignty of countries and over the self-determination of their people’: “Its reform process will bring significant changes to every human being and all 194 member states”, he said in a recent interview.
And former medical officer and scientist at the World Health Organisation David Bell, writing in a Brownstone Institute newsletter, comments, “No rational democracy would countenance outsourcing its governance to others. Enthusiasm for such an institution could only come from national leaders who are working for other interests, or capable of being coerced.”
The way out of this threat to our independence and basic freedoms is for the new Government to instruct our delegates to reject the negotiations and for New Zealand to exit the WHO, urgently.
All that is needed is clarity, honesty and a strong determination to fight for basic human rights.
Relevant links:
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-uns-new-political-declaration-on-pandemics/ https://brownstone.org/articles/the-who-the-un-and-the-reality-of-human-greed/ AN/ OVERVIEW OF THE WHO NEGOTIATIONS
Thank you Keri for a good background article relevant for NZ and for being a journalist in this lonely space! Where to next? I for one will be letter-writing to all our new MP's.
We need to get nz away from the WHO i will keep hounding our new mps. Keep up the good work kerri 👍