In the time since Rob Campbell was dramatically sacked as chair of Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, he has shown why Health Minister Ayesha Verrall had to remove him.
Yes, Campbell offered an apology to Verrall for the problems he had caused but he also offered todiscuss a protocol for future guidance on when he could speak his mind.
If his fate had not already been sealed, that surely would have clinched it.
It implied a next time. And there could be no next time, not in ordinary times, and definitely not in extraordinary times of several states of emergency, a new Prime Minister and a new Health Minister.
They have a laser-like focus to give their attention to the issues that matter in order to be re-elected in October. If it were a first offence, it might be different.
But as well as taking part in a Public Service Commission briefing last year on the importance of public service neutrality and the code of conduct for Crown entities, Campbell had already been spoken to - twice - about getting involved in politically contentious issues.
First was in August when Chloe Swarbrick’s bill banning alcohol sponsorship in sports and giving councils greater power to control alcohol sales was introduced to Parliament. Former Health Minister Andrew Little raised that with him in August.
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall intervened in December after Campbell wrote a piece for the New Zealand Herald. Photo / Mark Mitchell
There was another ministerial intervention in December after he wrote an opinion piece for the Herald titled “Who on earth is being hurt by co-governance?”
His piece was in response to an article about co-governance featuring Jim Bolger and Sir Douglas Graham, in which Campbell said: “As is often the case, we find the new health services system and Te Aka Whai Ora in the firing line. Blue blood still running through an old knight’s veins as election year beckons. The continued existence of Te Aka Whai Ora post-election is again threatened.”
Verrall spoke to Campbell about that in her capacity as Associate Health Minister. According to him, she took issue with his defence of the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora and asked him to tone it down.
So was there a way out after Campbell’s latest posting on Sunday, against National’s Three Waters Policy, which drew the ire of the Opposition?
Possibly. If he had realised immediately that he had overstepped the mark and convinced Verrall that it would not happen again, it may have been a more difficult decision than it was.
But unfortunately, Campbell made it easy, with previous form and no undertakings to avoid such controversy in the future.
Rob Campbell quit as the chairman of Te Whatu Ora.
Verrall took advice from the Public Service Commissioner and ministerial colleagues including Hipkins who until last month was Minister for the Public Service.
She did not give Cambell the same consideration as an employee would get because he is not an employee. He served at the pleasure of the minister and so she asked him to resign or be sacked, as is her right.
She also no doubt considered the counterfactual and how things would pan out if she had not sacked him.
His comments and his position would remain a political football for weeks and possibly months to come. In the real world of politics, that would have undermined the very reforms he so strongly believes in and undermined Verrall’s credibility as Health Minister.
He has suggested that he was entitled to attack National and its policies because they are intent on dismantling the restructured health service he heads.
It is true that Campbell often did more to justify the Māori health authority more vociferously than the politicians who appointed him, and his contribution to health debates would have fallen into grey areas.
But his latest attack on National and its policies was not about health. It was over water and co-governance. He chaired the most important board in the Government’s reform programme and was cavalier about ministerial expectations.
The code of conduct requires boards of Crown entities to behave in a way that is politically impartial and in such a way that it could serve another Government – whether or not that is a likely outcome.
Board members should neither pander to political parties nor attack them. They have accepted the job to implement Government policy.
It is hugely unfortunate that Campbell has gone. It was a big get when former Health Minister Andrew Little persuaded him to head the new national health service in September 2021.
He is an alpha director with experience and respect in the private and public sectors. He knew he was doing the Government a favour by accepting such an important job.
But that is no reason for the Government to pander to him or give him immunity from the rules.
