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'There's never a simple magic bullet' - Sir Peter Gluckman talks meth testing, concerns over previous government

July 1, 2018

Sir Peter spoke to Q+A’s Corin Dann about his damning report and his concerns with the previous government.

Outgoing Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman says concerns were raised over meth testing with the previous government. 

"The Prime Minister's office had said to me, 'Was it worth us looking at?' We had a discussion about it, and then a few weeks later, they came back and said, actually, this was probably in 2015 or 2016 – I can’t remember exactly when – they said, 'Look, we understand Ministry's working on it through Standards New Zealand,' Sir Peter told Q+A's Corin Dann.

"And we had many other things on our plate. I have an office of two people and myself, so we moved on, were focused on water and social investment."

When Sir Peter was asked by Dann if he was "frustrated" over his advice and recommendations being ignored by the National-led government over the years, he responded, "Yes and no".

"What we can do is provide the evidence as we have it – and it's not always black and white – but we can provide the evidence. But ultimately, in a democracy, the values-based decision-making of the public and public opinion of the political contract, I guess, ultimately must take the evidence into account. Doesn't mean they have to follow it," he said.

"There's never a simple magic bullet. And then we can explain what are the implications of the options. But in the end, policy-making is about making choices which affect different stakeholders in different ways. That’s the job of the political process."

To hear the rest of the discussion, click the video above.
 

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