Passing of Covid bill

Parker, in his speech, said the Government considered how the law affected New Zealanders’ rights, and the balance between individual and collective rights.

‘‘Taken too far, collective rights are used by communist, fascist, or theocratic regimes to suppress minorities and individual liberties,’’ he said. ‘‘Conversely, extreme use of individual liberties ‘trumping’ community rights beget unjust outcomes too.

‘‘For now, the only way we can protect the public in the Covid environment without lengthy lockdowns curtailing many liberties, is through higher vaccination rates.’’

He said it was fair to expect a person to get vaccinated for Covid19 if they did not have a medical exemption.

‘‘We have got baked in so many Bill of Rights Act protections into the empowering legislation and last week’s amendment . . . We’ve seen those protections been activated through challenges in the courts and most of these cases, we’ve prevailed as a Government.’’ He said people who chose not to get vaccinated ‘‘do not always have free choice of employment’’, and the choice between being vaccinated and losing a job ‘‘engaged’’ the right to refuse medical treatment, under the Bill of Rights Act.

Former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, in the audience, said ‘‘in some respects’’ the Government had imposed greater restrictions on citizens than had been done during wartime.