Rob Campbell says David Parker ‘considering his options’ over whether he should be sacked from second job

Under-fire director Rob Campbell insists he has not been sacked by Environment Minister David Parker, nor has he been asked to resign.

Parker wrote to Campbell on Wednesday about his position as the chair of the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

This followed Health Minister Ayesha Verrall sacking Campbell from his role as chair of Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ over breaching the Code of Conduct for Crown Entity directors.

The breach related to Campbell hitting out at National leader Christopher Luxon’s Three Waters policy - a breach of impartiality.

The Herald understands - and other media have reported - that Campbell is likely to lose his role on the EPA board too.

Campbell said he had replied to Parker this morning and said Parker had not yet asked him to resign or sacked him.

“I wasn’t asked to resign,” Campbell said, adding that he wasn’t sacked either. “I’m not trying to be tricky,” he said.

“I think he is considering his options is what I would say. I think he would be happy to say that.

“In the letter I got he was considering his options and I have expressed my view about those options,” Campbell said.

He did not speak any further to the contents of either letter.

National and Act have said that if Campbell’s comments were bad enough to have him sacked from one board, he should be sacked from his other position too.

Campbell continues to claim that his dismissal runs deeper than concerns over impartiality.

Rob Campbell, former chair of Te Whatu Ora. Photo / Michael Craig

He said that since Chris Hipkins became prime minister and Verrall became health minister the Government has shifted away from its co-governance agenda, something he had been very supportive of.

Campbell said Verrall pulled him up for a column published in the Herald in which he defended co-governance.

“Since Minister Verrall took over - she informally expressed some concern to me about the emphasis I was putting on Te Aka Whai Ora [the Māori Health Authority] and its centrality to the reforms.

“She thought my language was stronger than she would like it to be,” Campbell said.

“It was a view that we might become not quite aligned and - and you don’t need to be a genius to see why that’s happening,” he said.

When asked whether he was referring to the fact the Government was shifting emphasis away from co-governance, Campbell confirmed he was.

“There was no formal warning, it was an adult-to-adult discussion,” he said.