Police commissioner admits lockdown info not clear enough

Police Commissioner Mike Bush has admitted the advice given to Kiwis about what they're able to do during the lockdown hasn't been clear enough.

Appearing before the Epidemic Response Committee, Bush was grilled about who made the guidelines and exactly when people would find themselves on the wrong side of the police.

"Absolutely agree - the country needs clarity," Bush said.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges said it felt a bit like the "undies, undies, togs" television ad as people didn't know how far they could go before it was inappropriate.

Bridges asked if the guidelines would be made publicly available.

Bush replied that it was a "good idea" and said he'd take it away as an action point and consult Crown Law for advice.

Bush said officers had been told to have a graduated response in their interactions.

"No one will be prosecuted for being in doubt."

Police would first educate people if they were found to be breaking the rules, then would get a warning, then would be arrested and released without charge if the breaches were persistent and only in the most serious instances would someone be prosecuted.

"Our sole purpose is to work with the public to ensure people comply," Bush said.

"But we must stay within the law."

The Committee has also heard from Canterbury University professor John Hopkins, who specialises in disaster management law, who said there needed to be more clarity about the guidelines and who enforced them.

Bush and key government ministers are appearing before the committee this morning and being questioned about their response to the Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdown.

The committee is chaired by Bridges and made up of a majority of National MPs.

This comes as New Zealand enters its eighth day of lockdown.

This is the third day the committee has sat. Members join via video link and ask questions to those appearing before them.

Yesterday Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Treasury Secretary Caralee McLiesh appeared before the committee.

He also said it was make or break time for the Government to eliminate Covid-19.

"We've got the opportunity now. Every day counts," Skegg told the committee.

"If we don't eliminate it in the next few weeks, the shutdown will continue for many months, or we will have a series of shutdowns that will paralyse our society for a year or 18 months, and it will never be the same again."