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This is a brief thread for my (6?) UK followers about New Zealand's Minister of Health, David Clark. (1/6)
In the early days of NZ’s lockdown, Clark went for a ride on his mountain bike. There was nothing wrong with that per se, but he drove 2.3 km (1.4 mi) to reach his preferred bike trail. That breached NZ’s guidance against non-essential journeys. (2/6) https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/david-clark-new-zealand-health-minister-ignores-government-mountain-biking-a4405386.html
Clark initially made comments explaining and defending his actions. It had been only a small deviation for a permitted exercise activity. However, he then acknowledged that he needed to model perfect behaviour and in doing what he had done he had been “an idiot”. (3/6)
Clark apologised to the NZ PM and later to the NZ public. (4/6) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/03/new-zealand-health-minister-caught-mountain-biking-during-lockdown
Clark offered to resign. Ultimately, the PM allowed Clark to keep his Health portfolio but he was stripped of his associate finance minister portfolio and demoted to the bottom of the cabinet rankings. (5/6) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/07/new-zealand-health-minister-demoted-after-beach-visit-broke-lockdown-rules
Clark drove less than 2 mi. It was a small breach, but it was inconsistent with the severe restrictions the Government was asking of the rest of the country. He acknowledged his error, apologised, offered to resign, and was demoted. (6/6)
