Government seeking advice on 'what form' any COVID-19 inquiry should take, Jacinda Ardern says

An inquiry into the Government's COVID-19 response appears to be a step closer, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern awaiting advice on how to best move forward with any such probe.

Opposition political parties have called for the review, saying it's important to understand if mistakes were made and what could be done to avoid them in the future. 

On Tuesday, the Government announced an end to nearly all COVID-19 restrictions - dropping the traffic light system, mask and vaccine mandates and the last remaining border settings.

Now the Government's COVID-19 measures have wound back, AM host Ryan Bridge asked Ardern when an inquiry into its response would take place.

"There will always be things we should learn and we should learn them because there is a chance that we will, of course, experience these things in the future and we need to be ready for that," the Prime Minister said.

She said the Government wanted to be "pragmatic" with any probe into the COVID-19 response.

"We are looking at what form that should take but keeping in mind there's a range of different options for that; Government inquiries, ministerial inquiries, Royal Commissions - that all determine the length of time that they take."

The primary purpose of the inquiries suggested by various parties would be to look at the economic response to COVID-19, not the health measures.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in July there would be a time when an "overall lookback" at its economic response to COVID-19 would be appropriate but noted there had been "numerous opportunities" during the pandemic to quiz Government ministers and officials about it.

Ardern told AM she would continue seeking advice on the matter.

While she couldn't comment specifically on what any inquiry would focus on, Ardern said the Government wanted to learn for the future.

"Keep in mind, of course, we had a number of different independent advisory boards, a number of different reviews happening as we went so it's making sure that we learn new things rather than just repeat past exercises.

"I'm just waiting on some further advice. Once I receive it and we've got some decisions, we'll let you know."