The fall of David Clark: A timeline of what led to the Health Minister's resignation

July 2, 2020
David Clark

Health Minister David Clark has announced his resignation this morning after several blunders during the Covid-19 pandemic landed him in hot water.

Speaking to media today, he said his position in the role was a distraction for the Government during the pandemic. 

It comes after a string of issues during the Covid-19 pandemic, including his breaching of lockdown rules.

The Prime Minister said that “under normal conditions” Dr Clark would’ve lost his job as Health Minister.

April 2:

Early in New Zealand's Level 4 lockdown, on April 2, Dr Clark was called out for  driving over two kilometres to a mountain bike track  after a member of the public took a photo of his van with his face plastered on the side.

The minister's visit to the mountain bike trail went against the Ministry of Health's guidelines - guidelines he as Minister of Health was pushing - during lockdown which urged Kiwis to only venture outside for essential trips such as supermarket shopping, going to the pharmacy or for essential travel.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern demoted the Dunedin North MP from his Associate Finance portfolio, saying under normal circumstances she would have sacked him. 

Dr Clark fronted Breakfast shortly after it was announced he’d been stripped of his Associate Finance portfolio by the Prime Minister.

April 7:

With the biking blunder somewhat behind him, Dr Clark confessed to  taking a 20 kilometre drive to the beach  with his family and driving his family to another walking track on a separate occasion.

Dr Clark said his wife questioned their beach trip but he made the call to go anyway. That was on the weekend after the lockdown took effect.

He appeared on TVNZ 1's Breakfast after releasing a statement about the additional breaches, telling host John Campbell he was a fool and embarrassed he of all people broke the rules.

“Sale and purchase settlement for my house was a month before the lockdown,” Dr Clark told media.

April 28:

The Heath Minister defended a suspected third breach of lockdown when it was revealed he had moved houses in Alert Level 4.

Dr Clark was seen repeatedly moving boxes between the two properties during the Alert Level 4 lockdown. The properties are believed to only be a few hundred metres apart.

The Health Minister continues to be questioned about issues with quarantine testing, but he is passing responsibility to his officials.

June 24:

Dr Clark came under fire again when he seemingly threw Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield under the bus - shifting responsibility to him over Covid-19 quarantine and managed isolation bungles.

Outside a select committee at Parliament, where both Dr Clark and Dr Bloomfield appeared, the politician was asked if he took responsibility for the failures.

"The Director-General has accepted that protocols weren't being followed, he has accepted responsibility for that and has set about putting it right," Dr Clark said, as the senior public servant stood behind him.

For a brief time, the Health Minister had “avid campaigner for throwing under the bus policy” on his page.

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