A beach under Mount Maunganui in Tauranga, New Zealand (Illustration). – Smith Collection / Gifts / Kites USA / SIPA
There are things that do not pass in pandemic period. Especially when you are a member of the government, supposed to lead by example. A little family outing to the Minister’s beach
new zealand during the
confinement ended up running short.
Thursday, David Clark, Head of Health within the government of Jacinda Ardern, ended up resigning. Particularly unpopular, he had been strongly criticized after admitting in April that he had broken the rules of confinement to go to the beach, an “idiotic” getaway that he had regretted.
“After hearing Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern talk about her heart-to-heart conversation last week with David Clark, the only surprise was that it took him almost another week to actually resign as Health Minister.”https://t.co/UrB0g5oVBR
– nzherald (@nzherald) July 2, 2020
Given the particular context of the coronavirus crisis, the Prime Minister confirmed it in his post so as not to destabilize the health sector. But two months before the legislative elections, the Labor leader changed her mind.
“It is essential that health officials have the confidence of New Zealanders. As David told me, the needs of the team come before the needs of the individual, ”said Jacinda Ardern.
Waves of criticism
For several weeks, it has been the Director General of Health, Ashley Bloomfield, who appeared during the daily press briefing on the coronavirus. And it was the latter who had the praise of the general public for the management of the crisis.
A general public which has little appreciated the criticisms formulated by David Clark against Ashley Bloomfield on a series of errors in the respect of quarantine measures upon entry into the country. The resigning minister should be replaced by Chris Hipkins, today at Education.
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