Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor
Kaitohutohu Mātanga Pūtaiao Matua ki te Pirimia
Professor Dame Juliet Gerrard FRSNZ, HonFRSC
1-11 Short Street
Auckland 1010
Phone: 9(2)(g)(ii)
Email: [email address]
27 November 2023
Dear Prime Minister,
Congratulations on your appointment. Amidst the noise and haste, I thought I would just send a brief
note to summarise our current work programme, which we are of course ready to modify as required.
My term in this role finishes on 30th June 2024, and it would be great to meet in person to clarify your
priorities.
We  have  two  reports  that  were  completed  prior  to the election  which  we  hope  to  release  on our
website  by  December  15th.  One  is  on  youth  resilience  to  polluted  information  (a  catch  all  term
incorporating mis-, dis-, and mal-information). The other is on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in
healthcare. We have shared these in confidence with relevant officials and are forwarding the reports
to relevant Ministers (and copying your office) this week. We will also alert opposition spokespeople
shortly ahead of their release. For the AI report, in particular, there is an opportunity for both an in-
person and an AI-supported on-line launch event in the New Year, if this is of interest.
In terms of ongoing work, we continue to work on food waste, with a third report close to completion
and a final report planned for next year (see: Food rescue, food waste (pmcsa.ac.nz)). We will write to
relevant Ministers about this work when the third report is finalised and copy your office.
I met briefly with Hon Judith Collins at a function recently and expressed my enthusiasm to support
work in the GE space, building on earlier briefings to the PM (see: Gene editing (pmcsa.ac.nz)). We are
also keen to expand our work in AI, and are scoping out other possibilities for your consideration. In
particular, in the environmental space, there is significant potential for using AI to increase efficiency
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and improve conservation outcomes.
I have a small team of five, and collaborate extensively with researchers across the sector to deliver
our advice. The way I worked with previous Prime Ministers was to have commissioned projects with
an agreed Terms of Reference, leaving a little bandwidth to respond to anything urgent (e.g. informal
support on setting the methane target in the Carbon Zero Act, a rapid evidence synthesis to support
recovery from the mosque shooting, urgent participation in the immediate aftermath of the Whakaari
Release
eruption, and support for the response to COVID-19).
In quieter times, this bandwidth is filled by our wider programme, which has included supporting the
Minister of RSI and the MBIE team in the Future Pathways process to reform our Research, Science
PMCSA website: www.pmcsa.nz    |   Twitter@ChiefSciAdvisor   |   Instagram@nz_chief_science_advisor

and  Innovation  sector;  some  work  at  the  science-policy  interface  with  DPMC;  and  our  intern
programme  (see:  Our  interns  and  fellows  |  Office  of  the  Prime  Minister's  Chief  Science  Advisor
(pmcsa.ac.nz)).
To date, I have typically caught up with the PM in person every few weeks, with informal contact as
required by email or phone. My number is 9(2)(g)(ii)
. My direct emails are: [email address]
or, for restricted material,9(2)(g)(ii)

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I look forward to working with you.
Yours sincerely,
Act
Cc Ruth Fairhall, DPMC
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PMCSA website: www.pmcsa.nz    |   Twitter@ChiefSciAdvisor   |   Instagram@nz_chief_science_advisor

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