The Great Ministerial No-Show
John Bowie, LawFuel publisher
Dentons have been the legal hands behind the ministerial no show at the Covid inquiry, turning the situation into something of a damp squid, which is presumably the intention, after leading the charge on the most intrusive and destructive government disaster New Zealand has seen.
The pulpit of truth with its daily pronouncements was enough to see off the stuffed shirts and blouses that bossed the country around for the covid years.
The key turn of phrase, presumably courtesy of the Dentons’ advisers, was that for Jacinda Ardern and her loyal lieutenants Chris Hipkins, Grant Robertson, Dr Ayesha Verrall, the orchestrated stonewalling would result in “performative rather than informative” outcomes, which is a stunning piece of arrogant disingenuity.
It’s political pantomime at its purest. They want to skip the encore while pretending they were never centre stage. Rather like an arsonist refusing to appear in Court because it would be “too theatrical”.
Dentons: Cosy in the Corridors of Power
This isn’t Dentons’ first waltz with Labour’s political elite. Years before the pandemic, the firm was already busy managing high-profile cases for the government — even dabbling in legal matters for former PM Helen Clark, with a trademark dispute so New Zealand you could spread Marmite on it.
Since then, their expertise has poked about nto almost every vital crevice of public sector and health law, most notably when they absorbed Claro, a specialist health law firm, in 2024. Suddenly, Dentons was flush with health sector heavyweights: Dr Jonathan Coates, (pictured) Anita Miller, and more, all busily advising on regulatory minefields, compliance crises, and, of course, pandemic fiascos.
Those in-the-know at the Beehive understood quick enough that if the Covid drama was to run, you may want Dentons shepherding Labour through the fog.
Dentons became and may remain one of the last government’s important strategic assets in times of scrutiny, helping to calm bureaucratic nerves and their health sector expertise allowed them to run rings around the ever-shifting rules of pandemic politics during the Ardern years.
The Lawyers: Lords of the Lockdown
Dentons’ enlarged health law division, headed by Claro alumni, plus seasoned names like Hayden Wilson and of course the media-burnished Linda Clark have offered government and health institutions not just legal advice, but crisis management safety bars to hold.
Their occupational safety and health specialists would have been indispensable when New Zealand’s lockdowns bit deepest and criticism ran hottest. And hence, when the time comes to explain what happened and how decisions were made, the ‘performative’ pantomine emerges.
What does this tell us? In the new New Zealand, where the hard questions swirl and accountability wobbles, law isn’t just for the courtroom or public accountability. It’s a shield held by others too.
Sometimes the most important action doesn’t happen in front of the cameras, or even in Parliament. It happens in the shadows, where the lawyers, with their clever memos and crisis meetings, define the limits of power and play.
