15 March 2024
45 Pipitea St, Thorndon, Wel ington, 6011
PO Box 805, Wel ington
Phone +64 4 495 7200
John Armstrong
Email: [email address]
John Armstrong <fyi-request-25750-
Websit
e dia.govt.nz
[email address]>
Tēnā koe John
Official Information Act 1982 request (reference OIA2324-0609)
Thank you for your request of 16 February 2023 to Te Tari Taiwhenua | the Department of
Internal Affairs (the Department) asking for the following information under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), relating to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19
Lessons (the Royal Commission):
”Can you please supply all documentation, minutes of meetings, e-mails, risk
assessments for Tony Blakely (Commissioner) and John Whitehead (Commissioner) for
the COVID-19 Royal Commission role, including;
1/ Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any financial interest with any
Pharmaceutical Companies/Corporations currently and in the past? If so, who and what
these interests are?
2/ Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any family with financial interest with
any Pharmaceutical Companies/Corporations? If so, who and what these interests are?
3/ Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead currently have, or had in the past, any
connection and / or col aboration with Ashley Bloomfield? If so, please supply any and
all communications.
4/ Has Tony Blakely and John Whitehead supplied any information to Ashley Bloomfield
with regards NZ 's COVID-19 response? If so, please supply any and all such
communications.
5/ What salary / package has been offered to Tony Blakely and John Whitehead and
how does this compare with similar roles?
6/ If any conflicts of interest were identified then please supply all documentation
showing minimisation and /or elimination of the conflicts of interest.
7/ Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any financial and / or commercial
interest with Ministry of Health, Medsafe, Pharmac and / or other Government Services
(International or NZ)?”
link to page 2
Can you please supply al documentation, minutes of meetings, e-mails, risk assessments
for Tony Blakely (Commissioner) and John Whitehead (Commissioner) for the COVID-19
Royal Commission role.
The following documents, which fall within scope of your request, are available on the
Department’s website at the fol owing link www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releases:
• Cabinet paper: Establishing an inquiry into New Zealand’s preparedness for a future
pandemic (25 October 2022);
• CAB-22-MIN-0464: Cabinet: Minute of Decision (25 October 2022);
• Cabinet paper: Establishment of the Royal Commission into lessons learned from
Aotearoa New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 that should be applied in preparation
for any future pandemic (5 December 2022); and
• CAB-22-MIN-0552: Cabinet: Minute of Decision (5 December 2022).
Considerations regarding the Royal Commission’s membership are set out in the Cabinet
paper: Establishment of the Royal Commission into lessons learned from Aotearoa New
Zealand’s response to COVID-19 that should be applied in preparation for any future
pandemic (5 December 2022). Please refer to pages four to five at paragraphs 25 to 34.
Additionally, the following briefings contain information that fal within scope of your
request:
• Briefing paper: Inquiry into New Zealand’s preparedness for a future pandemic:
Ministerial meeting on 8 November 2022 (4 November 2022) on page three, at
paragraphs 14 to 15. These paragraphs are attached as
Appendix A; and
• Briefing paper: Draft Cabinet paper: Establishment of the Royal Commission into New
Zealand’s COVID-19 response and preparation for a future pandemic (17 November
2022) on page 3, at paragraphs 13 to 14. These paragraphs are attached as
Appendix
B.
There is one further document relating to candidate due diligence and probity checks that
falls within scope of your request. It provides:
• Tony Blakely’s conflicts of interest disclosure, which is attached as
Appendix C; • John Whitehead’s conflicts of interest disclosure, which is attached as
Appendix D1; and
• Information about Tony Blakely’s relationship with Doctor Ashley Bloomfield, which is
attached as
Appendix E.
The Department does not hold any further documentation, minutes of meetings, e-mails, or
risk assessments relating to the matters you have raised. This part of your request is refused
under section 18(e) of the Act.
1 Some information is withheld from this conflicts of interest disclosure to protect the privacy of individuals
under section 9(2)(a) of the Act. The withholding of this information is not outweighed by other public
interest considerations in favour of disclosure.
Page 2 of 10
link to page 3 link to page 3
1) Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any financial interest2 with any
Pharmaceutical Companies/Corporations currently and in the past? If so, who and what
these interests are?
At the time that the Department considered potential appointments to the Royal
Commission, Tony Blakely disclosed two potential conflicts of interest relating to research
consultancies for Moderna, Australia (
Appendix C refers). The research projects were as
follows:
• Project one: determining the vaccine effectiveness of mRNA vaccines in Victoria,
Australia; and
• Project two: effectiveness analyses of vaccine schedules, in the context of other COVID-
19 policies.
3
John Whitehead did not disclose any financial interest in pharmaceutical companies
(
Appendix D refers).
After the appointment of Tony Blakely and John Whitehead, the Royal Commission has
managed its own conflicts of interest. Consequently, the Department does not hold any
further information and this part of your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act.
2) Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any family with financial interest with any
Pharmaceutical Companies/Corporations? If so, who and what these interests are?
At the time that the Department considered potential appointments to the Royal
Commission, Tony Blakely and John Whitehead did not disclose having family members with
financial interests in pharmaceutical companies.
After their appointments, the Royal Commission has managed its own conflicts of interest.
Consequently, the Department does not hold any such information and this part of your
request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act.
3) Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead currently have, or had in the past, any
connection and / or col aboration with Ashley Bloomfield? If so, please supply any and al
communications.
Prior to his appointment to the Royal Commission, Tony Blakely disclosed the following:
• He had provided advice to key policy makers and advisors in New Zealand’s pandemic
response, including Doctor Ashley Bloomfield; and
• He has close collegial relationships and friendships with many of the key players in
New Zealand’s pandemic response, including Doctor Ashley Bloomfield (
Appendix E
refers).
Some information is withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act. The withholding of this
information is not outweighed by other public interest considerations in favour of disclosure.
2 We have interpreted ‘financial interests’ to include fees for contracted services and research funding grants.
3 Project two did not proceed.
Page 3 of 10
Prior to his appointment to the Royal Commission, John Whitehead did not disclose any
connection or col aboration with Doctor Ashley Bloomfield.
The Department does not hold any communications between Tony Blakely and Doctor
Ashley Bloomfield or John Whitehead and Doctor Ashley Bloomfield. Your request for this
information is refused under section 18(e) of the Act.
4) Has Tony Blakely and John Whitehead supplied any information to Ashley Bloomfield
with regards NZ 's COVID-19 response? If so, please supply any and al such
communications.
As noted in our response to question three above, Tony Blakely disclosed that he provided
advice to key policy-makers and advisors in New Zealand’s pandemic response, including
Doctor Ashley Bloomfield. The Department does not hold any communications between
Tony Blakely and Doctor Ashley Bloomfield prior to Tony Blakely’s appointment to the Royal
Commission. This part of your request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act.
Prior to his appointment to the Royal Commission, John Whitehead did not disclose that he
had provided any information to Doctor Ashley Bloomfield in relation to New Zealand’s
COVID-19 response.
The Department does not hold any communications between the Commissioners and Doctor
Ashley Bloomfield which may have arisen during the course of the inquiry. This part of your
request is refused under section 18(e) of the Act.
5) What salary / package has been offered to Tony Blakely and John Whitehead and how
does this compare with similar roles?
Tony Blakely receives a daily fee of $1,680 as the Chair of the Royal Commission. John
Whitehead receives a daily fee of $1,620 as a member of the Royal Commission. These fees
are 20 percent higher than the daily fees for members of other recent royal commissions,
who received a daily fee of $1,350.
6) If any conflicts of interest were identified then please supply al documentation showing
minimisation and /or elimination of the conflicts of interest.
As noted in our response to question one, prior to his appointment to the Royal Commission,
Tony Blakley disclosed two potential conflicts of interest relating to research consultancies
for Moderna, Australia concerning two separate projects.
For project one, it was agreed that Tony Blakely’s involvement was low risk and did not
require mitigation. For project two, which did not proceed, it was agreed that Tony Blakely’s
involvement in the project would be limited to the provision of technical advice on
modelling matters (
Appendix C refers).
Page 4 of 10
7) Does Tony Blakely and John Whitehead have any financial and/or commercial interest
with Ministry of Health, Medsafe, Pharmac and/ or other Government Services
(International or NZ)?”
Prior to their appointment to the Royal Commission, Tony Blakely and John Whitehead did
not disclose any financial, or commercial interest with Ministry of Health, Medsafe,
Pharmac, or other government services (international or New Zealand).
After their appointments, the Royal Commission has managed its own conflicts of interest.
As a consequence, the Department does not hold any such information and this part of your
request is refused under section 18(g) of the Act.
Access to the Ombudsman
You have the right, under section 28 of the Act, to seek a review of my decision by the Office
of the Ombudsman. The postal address of the Office of the Ombudsman is PO Box 10152,
Wellington. Alternatively, you can phone 0800 802 602 or email
[email address].
Proactive release of this response
We intend to publish our response to your request on www.dia.govt.nz.This letter, with your
personal details removed, will be published in its entirety. Publishing responses increases
the availability of information to the public and is consistent with the Act’s purpose of
enabling more effective participation in the making and administration of laws and policies
and promoting the accountability of Ministers and officials.
Nāku noa, nā
Jeremy Cauchi
Director Ministerial, Monitoring and Capability
Page 5 of 10
Appendix A: Paragraphs 14 to 15 of the briefing paper: Inquiry into New Zealand’s
preparedness for a future pandemic: Ministerial meeting on 8 November 2022 (4
November 2022).
Membership
14. As directed, the draft Cabinet paper does not refer to a proposed Chair in the section on
membership, as the due diligence process and consideration of the Chair are ongoing. The
draft Cabinet paper proposes that Hon Hekia Parata, John Whitehead and Professor Antony
Blakely are appointed as members of the Royal Commission, and seeks agreement for you to
recommend their appointments to the Governor-General.
15. The final draft of the Cabinet paper wil need to include a proposed Chair and seek
agreement to the fee level for the Chair. The Inquiries Act 2013 [section 7(1)(c)] requires a
Chair to be named in the establishment instrument if there is more than one member
appointed to an inquiry. Your office may wish to signal this in any messaging that
accompanies the circulation of the draft Cabinet paper to your Ministerial colleagues.
Page 6 of 10
Appendix B: Paragraphs 13 to 14 of the briefing paper: Draft Cabinet paper: Establishment
of the Royal Commission into New Zealand’s COVID-19 response and preparation for a
future pandemic (17 November 2022).
Membership matters 13. We have had productive discussions with the three potential candidates for the Inquiry.
Ministerial decisions are required at this meeting to progress these discussions, and relate
to:
• the preferred Chair; and
• the fee level for the members.
14. Any delay on these decisions poses a risk to our ability to obtain agreement from the
potential candidates to be formal y considered for appointment to the Inquiry. A delay could
also impact our ability to complete due diligence processes within the timeframe required
for Cabinet’s consideration of the Inquiry’s terms of reference, membership and budget on
28 November 2022.
Page 7 of 10
Appendix C: Professor Tony Blakely – possible conflicts of interest disclosed at the time of
appointment in 2022
Possible conflicts of interest
1) Professor Blakely has published
numerous academic and media articles
about COVID-19, including commentary
on the NZ government’s response.
2) Professor Blakely is in the process of
signing two research consultancies for
Moderna, Australia. Project 1:
Determining the vaccine effectiveness
of mRNA vaccines in Victoria, Australia.
Project 2: Cost effectiveness analyses of
vaccine schedules, in the context of
other COVID-19 policies.
Proposals for conflict management (if
As discussed between Professor Blakely
applicable)
and staff of DIA, the proposed joint
position is:
- Professor Blakely will continue to
provide advice to Project 1 (low risk,
retrospective analyses).
- Professor Blakely will only provide
technical advice to Project 2 on
modelling matters but will stand aside
from matters of conceptualising policy
packages to assess and interpreting
those packages.
Page 8 of 10
Appendix D: John Whitehead – possible conflicts of interest disclosed at the time of
appointment in 2022
I am Chancellor (and therefore Chair of the Board) of Hato Hone St John (HHSJ),
which is the principal provider of emergency ambulance services (as well as
other community health services) in Aotearoa, New Zealand. HHSJ played a part
in responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic and has also been impacted by it. If this
role does not preclude me from involvement in the Royal Commission, it may be
appropriate for me to refrain from participating in aspects that may touch on the
St John role.
In addition, [withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act], [withheld under section
9(2)(a) of the Act], and [withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act] are all
involved in the Health sector, [withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act]. It
seems appropriate to manage this potential conflict by ensuring those closely
involved with the Inquiry are aware of these connections.
I note also that the Anglican Church, in which I hold various roles, was a
beneficiary of the wage subsidy provided by the Government. I have not
received any financial benefit from this policy personally.
Page 9 of 10
Appendix E: Disclosure of Tony Blakely’s relationship with Doctor Ashley Bloomfield
During the course of the pandemic, I have provided direct advice to key policy makers and
advisors in the NZ response, including: Doctor Ashley Bloomfield, DG of Health till mid-2022;
Sir Prof David Skegg, Chair Strategic COVID-19 Public Health Advisory Group; and many other
policy makers and commentators.
I have close collegial relationships and friendships with many of the key players in the NZ
COVID-19 Policy Response, including Ashley Bloomfield, and Professors Michael Baker and
Nick Wilson. I do not believe these relationships will compromise my independence; indeed,
Professors Baker and Wilson and I from time to time respectfully disagree on matters.
Page 10 of 10
