“The Prime Minister must come clean on the murky details of the lobbyist who once worked as her chief of staff”, ACT
Leader David Seymour says.
“Jacinda Ardern told ACT in answers to written parliamentary questions that GJ Thompson took a leave of absence from his
roles as a director and shareholder of lobbying firm Thompson Lewis while he was employed as her acting chief of staff
between October 2017 and February 2018.
“However, Companies Office records show Mr Thompson remained a director and shareholder throughout this period.
“The Prime Minister needs to immediately set the record straight.
“Answering on behalf of the Prime Minister in Parliament today, Winston Peters was unable to reconcile these conflicting
accounts. Peters was eventually saved by an intervention from Speaker Trevor Mallard.
“The Prime Minister has also confirmed to ACT that, while he was her acting chief of staff, Mr Thompson received all
Cabinet papers and was briefed on all legislation. Yet, her office appears to have put in place no processes to ensure
that he didn’t access material that could benefit his clients.
“As far as we can tell, Mr Thompson retained a duty to act in the best interests of his lobbying firm as a director and
retained an ownership interest as a shareholder.
“There was clearly huge potential for a conflict between his personal interests as a lobbyist and his duties as the
Prime Minister’s chief of staff.
“If the Prime Minister is truly committed to the of ideas of openness and transparency in government, she will tell New
Zealanders what roles Mr Thompson held during this period, what material he had access to while he was her chief of
staff, and how this conflict was managed.”