19 May 2026
Cher Ryker
[FYI request #34517 email]
Tēnā koe Cher
Your request for official information, reference: HNZ00202922
Thank you for your email on 20 April 2026, asking Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora for the
following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
Under the Official Information Act 1982, I am requesting internal correspondence, memos, and
administrative records originating from the former Auckland Area Health Board and the
Ministry of Health during the year 1993.
I am compiling a historical and family archive detailing the reform of addiction medicine in New
Zealand. My late father was a central figure in a 1993 legal action known as the "Gang of 4"
lawsuit, which successfully secured a High Court injunction against the Auckland Area Health
Board's Drug Dependency Clinic. His birth name was Wil iam Frederick Webb, though he
primarily used his adopted name, Barry Bond, and is also known in historical archives under
the name Barry Ryker. He passed away in 2003, and I am making this request as his
daughter.
Specifically, I am requesting:
Internal memos or correspondence within the Auckland Area Health Board or the Auckland
Drug Dependency Clinic reacting to the High Court injunction granted to Barry Bond / Wil iam
Frederick Webb / Barry Ryker and the other plaintiffs in 1993.
Correspondence between clinic management and the Ministry of Health regarding the legal
challenge to their "policed compliance" model and observed urinalysis practices.
Any letters or communications received by the Associate Minister of Health in 1993 regarding
the clinic's practices, specifical y any correspondence associated with Rosanne Hastie or the
ADIO Needle Exchange.
Documentation regarding the subsequent policy shifts forced by this lawsuit, particularly the
move toward "GP-based management" and the expansion of the Methadone Clinic Consumer
Committee.
If the requested information is held by Archives New Zealand, please advise on the relevant
agency file references so I may pursue them there.
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora wrote to you on 24 April and again on 30 April to request:
• Written consent from the Executor/Administrator of the estate, or
• Proof of your relationship to the deceased where there is no wil .
Response
We acknowledge that you responded to the two requests we sent in April 2026 asking for written
consent or proof of relationship. However, your responses did not include the required consent or
proof of relationship.
The files we mentioned (Archive Files R7217794) are restricted. We can only access them from
Archives if you provide that consent or proof of relationship.
The Archive File R16659044 (records relating to the Auckland Drug Dependency Unit) are open
access and held in Wellington. Note that they were created and held by the former Department of
Health (now the Ministry of Health). As advised Health New Zealand is not the appropriate
agency to be managing requests for those records and we are transferring this part of your request
to the Ministry of Health.
We must decline your requests for information relating to Barry Bond/Wil iam Frederick
Webb/Barry Ryker. Health New Zealand has a statutory obligation under the Privacy Act 2020 to
ensure that the steps related to consent or proof of relationship are undertaken correctly and one
or other form of evidence is supplied before we can grant access to any information that may exist.
That part of your request relating to information held by Health New Zealand regarding Barry
Bond/Wil iam Frederick Webb/Barry Ryker is refused under the Privacy Act, s53(b)(1),
unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of another individual.
As we cannot manage those aspects of your request under the Privacy Act as described above,
we have considered the balance of your request under the Official Information Act.
Health New Zealand has considered your request for official information other than that about Mr
Webb and has decided to refuse this part of your request s18(e) OIA, the information is not held.
In the course of working on your requests we have found reference to two series of files that may
be relevant to your request, which are held at Archives New Zealand and for which access is
controlled by Clinical Records at Health New Zealand | Te Toka Tumai Auckland.
Clinical Records are the Access Contacts and they wil need to determine whether or not they wil
grant you access and then retrieve the items as a government loan, retrieve the records and scan
them. Alternatively they can provide you with an Official Access Permission letter and you would
then take this to Archives New Zealand.
The two series are:
1) R1166477 | 1985 – 1990, Auckland repository | Restricted | Physical | Text | Series: 4285 - St
Helens Hospital Subject Files Agency: YCBH - National Women's Hospital
2) R7042272 | 1990 – 1992 Auckland repository | Restricted | Physical | Text | Series: 14095 -
Auckland Health files relating to enquiries, disciplinary matters and appeals, Agency: ZABV -
Auckland Healthcare Services Limited.
There are 33 items in these related to Wil iam Frederick Webb, all kept at Archives NZ under a
descriptor: High Court Auckland/Wellington/Dunedin/Timaru, Department of Justice.
The contact information for the Clinical Records Department at Te Toka Tumai Auckland is:
• Phone, for urgent requests, 09 307 4949 and ask for extension 22288
• Email
[email address]
• Postal address:
Clinical records department
Private Bag 92024
Auckland 1023
The Clinical records department is available between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.
How to get in touch
If you have any questions, you can contact us at
[email address].
If you are dissatisfied with our response to your request for personal information relating to Barry
Bond (also known as Wil iam Frederick Webb/Barry Ryker), you may complain to the Office of the
Privacy Commissioner.
Information about making a complaint is availabl
e at https://www.privacy.org.nz or by calling
0800 803 909.
If you are not happy with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
by phoning 0800 802 602.
Nāku iti noa, nā
Matthew McLay
Manager (OIAs), Government Services
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
