Clarke Gayford - Pharmacist phone call

James made this Official Information request to Jacinda Ardern

The request was successful.

From: James

Dear Jacinda Ardern,

The information I am seeking relates to the pharmacist phone call involving Clarke Gayford, your fiancé.

For some context, I have outlined your previous refusal to provide any information below.

At the time of the incident, as widely reported by multiple media outlets, you “Refused to comment on the issue”.

As per RNZ article published 13th January 2021

“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is refusing to comment on claims her fiancé tried to get rapid antigen tests (RATs) for his musician friends despite them not being eligible"

Furthermore, despite the story being first reported by an accredited Press Gallery member Thomas Coughlan, you have point blank refused to answer any questions from journalists.

Lastly, if the musicians seeking the RAT kits were close contacts they would have been immediately contacted by the MOH and a full "Health Risk Assessment" carried out.
Thus, why the musicians were urgently seeking their own testing and the assistance of Mr Gayford is a valid and reasonable question.

In the interests of transparency, integrity and public confidence in the govt it is vital the PM avoids or declares any conflicts of interest, including the perception of conflicts of interest.

With that in mind I seek the following information.

When were you first made aware DJ Dimension (Robert Etheridge) had broken Covid 19 protocols and who informed you? Please provide all communications concerning DJ Dimension including but not limited to texts, emails and phone relating to DJ Dimension between the dates of 28th of December 2021 and January 13th 2022.

What was the exact date and time Mr Gayford was on the phone to the pharmacist in Tauranga, where the musicians were seeking RAT kits?

When were you made aware Mr Gayford had been on the phone with the pharmacist in Tauranga and who informed you?
Please provide all communications including but not limited to emails, texts and phone calls relating to Mr Gayford's phone conversation with the Tauranga pharmacist inclusive of communications involving Office of the Prime Minister.

Please provide all communications including but not limited to emails, texts and phone calls involving Mr Gayford if he had contact with any government officials or members of your staff regarding music festivals, or musicians involved with the music festivals between the dates of December 28th 2021 and 13th of January 2022.
Further, any communications between Mr Gayford and any promoter/festival owner/director involved in essential worker visas for DJ Dimension in the 12 months prior to 28th December 2021, Again communications for this request are limited to the period between December 28th and 13th of January 20222.

Did you have contact or involvement whatsoever with Mr Gayford's lawyers, legal advisors or management between the dates of December 29th 2021 to 13th January 2021. If yes, please provide all details and communications including but not limited to emails, phone calls and texts

Yours faithfully,

James

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From: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern

Kia ora

 

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with Prime Minister, Jacinda
Ardern.

 

If you are writing about an issue relating to COVID-19, mental health,
immigration, housing or benefit assistance, here's a list of links which
you might find helpful:

 

COVID-19

 

For information on COVID-19, including the latest updates, go to
[1]www.covid19.govt.nz

 

For immigration and visa advice

Contact the call centre which is open  6:00am Monday to midnight on
Saturday (NZT).

[2]https://www.immigration.govt.nz/contact/  

 

 

For urgent housing or benefit enquiries:

∙             Call 0800 559 009 (for under 65)

∙             Call 0800 552 002 (for over 65)

 

 

If you need treatment or support for your health or wellbeing. The
following options are available:

 

Healthline – You can call Healthline for health advice on freephone 0800
611 116 at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Healthline staff
can advise you on the best thing to do in your situation, including which
services are near you and open.

 

1737 – If you need to talk to someone about how you are feeling, you can
call or text 1737 for free at any time to talk to a trained counsellor.

 

Mental health crisis teams – If you are concerned that someone is going to
hurt themselves or someone else, you can all your local mental health
crisis team. A full list of numbers is available here:
[3]www.health.govt.nz/your-health/services-and-support/health-care-services/mental-health-services/crisis-assessment-teams/

 

For Police assistance in an emergency call 111. For everything else use
105.

You can also make a report online at [4]www.105.police.govt.nz

 

 

We hope that this information is helpful, if not we will try to get back
to you as soon as possible.

 

Thank you again.

 

 

Office of the Prime Minister

 

 

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References

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1. http://www.covid19.govt.nz/
2. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/contact/
3. http://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/se...
4. http://www.police.105.govt.nz/

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From: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern

I am writing on behalf of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to acknowledge receipt of your Official Information Act request.

Your request will be responded to under the provisions of the Official Information Act 1982.

Yours sincerely

Dinah Okeby
Office of the Prime Minister

-----Original Message-----
From: James [mailto:[FOI #21384 email]]
Sent: Saturday, 10 December 2022 9:08 PM
To: J Ardern (MIN) <[Jacinda Ardern request email]>
Subject: Official Information request - Clarke Gayford - Pharmacist phone call

Dear Jacinda Ardern,

The information I am seeking relates to the pharmacist phone call involving Clarke Gayford, your fiancé.

For some context, I have outlined your previous refusal to provide any information below.

At the time of the incident, as widely reported by multiple media outlets, you “Refused to comment on the issue”.

As per RNZ article published 13th January 2021

“Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is refusing to comment on claims her fiancé tried to get rapid antigen tests (RATs) for his musician friends despite them not being eligible"

Furthermore, despite the story being first reported by an accredited Press Gallery member Thomas Coughlan, you have point blank refused to answer any questions from journalists.

Lastly, if the musicians seeking the RAT kits were close contacts they would have been immediately contacted by the MOH and a full "Health Risk Assessment" carried out.
Thus, why the musicians were urgently seeking their own testing and the assistance of Mr Gayford is a valid and reasonable question.

In the interests of transparency, integrity and public confidence in the govt it is vital the PM avoids or declares any conflicts of interest, including the perception of conflicts of interest.

With that in mind I seek the following information.

When were you first made aware DJ Dimension (Robert Etheridge) had broken Covid 19 protocols and who informed you? Please provide all communications concerning DJ Dimension including but not limited to texts, emails and phone relating to DJ Dimension between the dates of 28th of December 2021 and January 13th 2022.

What was the exact date and time Mr Gayford was on the phone to the pharmacist in Tauranga, where the musicians were seeking RAT kits?

When were you made aware Mr Gayford had been on the phone with the pharmacist in Tauranga and who informed you?
Please provide all communications including but not limited to emails, texts and phone calls relating to Mr Gayford's phone conversation with the Tauranga pharmacist inclusive of communications involving Office of the Prime Minister.

Please provide all communications including but not limited to emails, texts and phone calls involving Mr Gayford if he had contact with any government officials or members of your staff regarding music festivals, or musicians involved with the music festivals between the dates of December 28th 2021 and 13th of January 2022.
Further, any communications between Mr Gayford and any promoter/festival owner/director involved in essential worker visas for DJ Dimension in the 12 months prior to 28th December 2021, Again communications for this request are limited to the period between December 28th and 13th of January 20222.

Did you have contact or involvement whatsoever with Mr Gayford's lawyers, legal advisors or management between the dates of December 29th 2021 to 13th January 2021. If yes, please provide all details and communications including but not limited to emails, phone calls and texts

Yours faithfully,

James

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From: C Hipkins (MIN)
Jacinda Ardern


Attachment 30.01.2023 Letter to James PMO 2022 395.pdf
111K Download View as HTML


Tēnā koe,

 

On behalf of Raj Nahna, I attach a letter in response to your OIA request.

 

Ngā mihi,

 

Private Secretary (Executive Support)

Office of the Prime Minister

 

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Link to this

From: Jo Pettitt


Attachment image001.png
30K Download

Attachment image002.png
7K Download

Attachment 07 03 2023 FINAL letter to James PMO 2022 395.pdf
218K Download View as HTML


Tēnā koe

 

On behalf of Andrew Kirton, I attach a letter in response to your OIA
request.

 

Ngā mihi

 

 

Jo Pettitt

Executive Assistant │Office of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff

 

 

The information contained in this email is intended for the named
recipient only.  It may contain privileged material or information in
confidence and if you are not the  intended recipient,  you must not copy,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it.  

If you have received this email in error please notify us immediately by
telephone (04 817-9732) or by return email.

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Authorised by Chris Hipkins MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

 

Email disclaimer:

Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[1]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

 

 

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References

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1. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

Link to this

From: Jo Pettitt


Attachment image001.png
30K Download

Attachment image003.png
7K Download

Attachment 07 03 2023 FINAL letter to James PMO 2022 395.pdf
989K Download View as HTML


Hi James

 

Please find an updated letter with the attachments, which I forgot to
enclose in my original message.

 

Ngā mihi

 

 

Jo Pettitt

Executive Assistant │Office of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff

 

 

From: Jo Pettitt
Sent: Tuesday, 7 March 2023 10:52 AM
To: '[FOI #21384 email]'
<[FOI #21384 email]>
Subject: Your OIA Request - PMO 2022-395

 

Tēnā koe

 

On behalf of Andrew Kirton, I attach a letter in response to your OIA
request.

 

Ngā mihi

 

 

Jo Pettitt

Executive Assistant │Office of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff

 

 

The information contained in this email is intended for the named
recipient only.  It may contain privileged material or information in
confidence and if you are not the  intended recipient,  you must not copy,
distribute or take any action in reliance on it.  

If you have received this email in error please notify us immediately by
telephone (04 817-9732) or by return email.

Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail

Authorised by Chris Hipkins MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington

 

Email disclaimer:

Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 1993 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[1]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

 

 

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1. https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...

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