NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Was Clarke Gayford too quick with tweet on alert level decision that 'hadn't been made yet'?

Jason Walls
By Jason Walls
Political Editor – Newstalk ZB·NZ Herald·
12 Mar, 2021 04:44 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may ask partner Clarke Gayford to not tweet from the hip on social media. Photo / Jason Walls

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may ask partner Clarke Gayford to not tweet from the hip on social media. Photo / Jason Walls

The decision whether Auckland was moving out of alert level 2 turned out not to be the focus of this morning's press conference with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

That call was more or less a no-brainer – there hadn't been a community case in two weeks despite tens of thousands of tests.

The focus was on her fiancé, Clarke Gayford, who had stepped in to defend Ardern from criticism around the delay in the announcement of the alert level decision.

The Cabinet made the in-principle decision to move Auckland to level 1 on Thursday night but wanted to wait on the last bit of data to come through before making the final call today.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This morning, Gayford tweeted in support of Ardern saying that an: "inprinciple [sic] decision was decided but its all pending on final test results today."

Martin an inprinciple decision was decided but its all pending on final test results today.

— Clarke Gayford (@NZClarke) March 11, 2021

This was quick to hit headlines and prompted some accusations that Gayford had been given inside information by Ardern.

Ardern pushed back strongly on this at her press conference: "That is not correct, that he is forewarned of what the decision is."

She said he was simply relaying information that was in the "public domain", specifically referencing comments made by ministers David Parker and Stuart Nash.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But was it?

When asked before the Cabinet met on Thursday why there was going to be a delay between the decision and the Friday announcement, Ardern said: "In order for us to make any preparations for us to make an announcement [today]".

Discover more

New Zealand|politics

Aucklanders rejoice as shackles of Covid restrictions lifted

12 Mar 04:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

'Enjoy your weekend': Auckland now at alert level 1, event organisers rejoice

12 Mar 01:14 AM
New Zealand|politics

Clarke Gayford wades into row over alert announcement delaying

11 Mar 08:57 PM
New Zealand|politics

Parenting, cooking and Covid: Jacinda Ardern opens up on home life as PM

03 Mar 11:24 PM

She did not specifically say the Cabinet was considering making an "in-principle" decision.

Asked the very same question ahead of Thursday's Cabinet meeting, neither Grant Robertson nor Chris Hipkins specifically cited the possibility of an "in principle" decision either.

"Cabinet is meeting tonight and the reason for that was to simply facilitate an announcement on Friday," Robertson said at the time.

"When we make these decisions there are sometimes further pieces of work that are required. We didn't want there to be any delay on Friday so we had the meeting [last night]."

Then, after the Cabinet meeting had finished on Thursday, minister Stuart Nash told RNZ:
"There's a little bit more information we need to make the final decision – that's why you will have to wait until 11.30am for the Prime Minister to make that announcement."

He was even specifically asked if he could "give any assurance around whether whatever decision was made would be effectively immediately at the time of the announcement".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But he would only say: "We had a very constructive Cabinet meeting – there is some more information that needs to be sought before a final decision is made".

But, again, no specific reference to an "in-principle" decision.

The only time the "in-principle decision" line was publically used by a member of Ardern's Cabinet was this morning on the AM Show by senior minister David Parker.

"We took the in-principle decision but we wait for the latest data which will come out this morning."

But, the trouble is that Parker made the comments in the interview at roughly 7.13am, 11 minutes after Gayford tweeted his comments at 7.02am - not before.

This means the first time the "in-principle" line was used wasn't by a minister, but by Gayford on Twitter, which Parker then repeated.

Gayford's tweet forced Ardern on to the defensive at a press conference where she wanted to clearly outline why ministers met last night but made the decision today.

Questions have quite rightly been asked about whether the tweet was a good idea.

On the question of whether Ardern was correct in her defence of Gayford, the answer is not definitive.

But on the question of whether Ardern will advise him to keep his thoughts to himself next time, the answer will almost certainly be yes.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

New Zealand

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Premium
New Zealand

Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

03 Jul 06:00 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

$1 million Ferrari hits man's prized Honda Civic

Aldrin Mariano's 1995 Honda Civic EG8 was destroyed while parked in Newmarket in Auckland. Video / Wheel Hub NZ

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Smokefreerockquest Showquest Nelson Final

Premium
Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

Court holds forestry directors accountable for environmental compliance

03 Jul 06:00 AM
Smokefreerockquest Bay of Plenty Regional Final

Smokefreerockquest Bay of Plenty Regional Final

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP