Download documents released about ASH following an Official Information Act request by Calvin Cochran of Vape Free Kids. 

Official Information Act release concerning ASH

On 9 September 2026, the Office of Hon Casey Costello released documents in response to an Official Information Act request submitted by Calvin Cochran on behalf of Vape Free Kids concerning communications involving ASH and the individuals named below.

ASH is publishing the release package as supplied by the Minister’s office so that the correspondence can be read in full and in context. Any redactions in the package were made by the Minister’s office. We routinely do this as we believe in transparency and accountability. 

The request sought:

1. All correspondence—including email, Teams, Signal, WhatsApp, text messages, phone messages, calls and records of calls—between Minister Costello or members of her office and Robert Beaglehole, Ben Youdan or Ruth Bonita.

2. Correspondence between the Minister’s office and the Ministry of Health relating to Robert Beaglehole’s attendance at the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Conference of the Parties, or other events on behalf of the New Zealand Government.

3. Information covering the period from 27 November 2023.

Please contact ASH if you have any questions about the correspondence or the positions expressed in it.

Download the correspondence released by the Minister’s office (PDF, 66 pages).