Regrets on leaking health data
his employer as a public servant is “the people of New Zealand”.
“They are my employers. In my heart I am releasing data to my employers. I am alerting them.”
In a less metaphorical sense, he admits he never raised his concerns with a manager.
“Wouldn’t it be good if I had done that and they would have taken some action? My impression is that had I alerted them, they would have sacked me and nothing would have happened.”
At the time of this interview, he is yet to be formally dismissed. Health New Zealand would later conclude an investigation and confirm he was no longer an employee.
He laughs when told he will probably never work in the public sector again. His public service career began in the late 2000s when he worked as a database administrator at the Ministry of Health.
He’s worked at banks in New Zealand, Switzerland, Scotland and London. “So like top level security access. Same at the Ministry of Health, people’s [health] data, which you could argue is more important than financial data.”
He returned to the Ministry in 2018 and described it as “absolutely brilliant”. He transferred to Health NZ when it was established in 2022. He worked almost entirely from home since the pandemic hit.
He has no doubts that Covid-19 is real and says he had a mild case of the virus once.
He’s not a member of Voices For Freedom or any political party. He is not sure whether I have been paid off by the Government and was seen at a protest outside Wellington office weeks before this interview to protest the imprisonment of Julian Assange.
He voted in the 2024 election but won’t say who for. He’s not religious, but “believes in the universe”.
“If I’m there as a representative of Health New Zealand I wouldn’t say diddly squat. In my opinion as an individual I should be able to voice anything I want.”
Since he was released on bail he has been “a gentleman of leisure”. His trial by jury is set to begin in April 2025.