Facebook posts from the Health Minister have had to be deleted after they accidentally stated he had been paid to promote businesses – a breach of the Cabinet Manual.
A post from today said David Clark had been compensated for sharing a picture from the Dunedin café Vogel St Kitchen, where staff had written a support message for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Another post from two days ago was similar - that time with Dunedin North Intermediate School.
"Paid partnership" posts on Facebook are a way for people to partner with brands to promote products or services.
The minister's office was alerted to the posts after inquiries by 1 NEWS.
It says they were classified incorrectly.
"It is unclear exactly how the 'paid partnership’ label was applied to the two posts, but it was not intentional. There is no such partnership. As we cannot remove the label we have taken the posts down," a spokesperson for David Clark said.
The Cabinet Manual clearly states no minister should endorse any product or service, in any media, and no fee should be accepted.
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