Ministers differ over why Government rejected WHO rules on pandemics
Wednesday, 25 March 2026
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters signed a document together to reject World Health Organization rules on pandemics, but have given differing reasons for signing it.
Last week New Zealand became one of just 12 countries to reject amendments to international health regulations following the Covid-19 pandemic, despite international negotiations being led by former Director-General of Health Sir Ashley Bloomfield.
Health Minister Simeon Brown maintained the decision to reject was because the Government had not had time to complete the necessary domestic processes, while Peters said the decision was made “to put [WHO] in their place”.
The amendments involve introducing a higher level of alarm in the definition of a pandemic emergency and strengthening access to medicines.
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The regulations are intended to strengthen global preparedness, surveillance and responses to public health emergencies.
They built on lessons learnt from several global health emergencies, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
Peters told reporters on Tuesday that the Government was concerned about the WHO’s behaviour, specifically “going from an organisation that had a charter that they honoured that respected national sovereignty, to an organisation that thought they run the world by themselves”.
Peters also posted on X that he fought for a full rejection on his voters’ behalf.
“We made a promise to put the national interests of New Zealanders first, to maintain our sovereign decision making, and to push back on globalist bureaucrats ‒ and we have kept that promise.”
Brown said the pair signed a joint statement to WHO that clearly stated the Government’s position.
“That's the statement that should be reported on rather than necessarily just what's on Twitter,” he said.
“Ultimately, he is a leader of a political party and has a particular view.”
Brown said New Zealand remained committed to the International Health Regulations and would continue to be bound by the 2005 regulations.
He said accepting the amendments would have required New Zealand to complete the treaty examination process, as acceptance of the amendments would be considered a treaty action.
Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said the Government needed to get its story straight on what was an important issue for New Zealand’s international reputation.
She said it was “totally inexplicable” New Zealand had not had the time to form a clear view when more than 100 countries around the world had managed to find the time.
“Pandemics probably won't start in New Zealand, they will start overseas and making sure that information and resources are shared with us is an incredibly important thing.”
She said the Government walking away from the amendments it helped create, having mounted “an incredibly successful and internationally recognised pandemic response”, made the country “a bit of a laughing stock internationally”.