Newshub has obtained the text message sent by Rachel Glucina to the Prime Minister, which John Key initially refused to release under the Official Information Act.
The text message said: “just interviewed the waitress. Piece of work! Massive political agenda”.
Earlier today it was revealed the Ombudsman found the Prime Minister should not have refused to release the message when it was requested under the OIA.
Mr Key has since agreed to release the message. He said it was an unsolicited text and he did not respond to it.
The person who made the complaint to the Ombudsman was the blogger 'No Right Turn'.
In August last year, the Prime Minister’s office wrote to Ms Glucina about the complaint, saying it did not intend to release the message because it was not the practice for the Prime Minister or the media team to “divulge details of the communications with journalists.”
Ms Glucina, who was working for the New Zealand Herald at the time the message was sent, ran a story identifying Amanda Bailey as the waitress whose hair John Key pulled.
Ms Bailey appeared in a story alongside her managers from Rosie's cafe, but later criticised the piece, saying she didn’t know Ms Glucina was a journalist.
Both Ms Glucina and the Herald defended the article and the paper’s editor said Ms Bailey was made aware that Ms Glucina was a journalist. But the Press Council upheld complaints made against the Herald, saying it had "generally fallen far short of those standards in its handling of a sensitive issue and its failure to respect the interests of a vulnerable person."
Newshub.
