Rob Campbell has been sacked over a political attack he made about the National Party's Three Waters policy. Photo: Te Whatu Ora
The ejection of Health New Zealand's chair is becoming a larger headache for the government as it faces calls to punish him further, as well as claims it has overreacted.
The mess also risks undermining Labour's major health reforms at a pivotal time, a health commentator warns.
Rob Campbell was sacked from Te Whatu Ora by Health Minister Ayesha Verrall yesterday after he launched an "inappropriate" attack on the National Party's Three Waters policy online.
Figures in such roles are bound by a code of conduct requiring political neutrality, but Campbell yesterday told RNZ his comments were made in a private capacity and his ousting was an over-reaction.
Health commentator Ian Powell said the sacking was "an unfortunate decision" and seemed a convenient excuse to remove an increasingly outspoken chair.
"He was becoming too much of a free thinker, I think. That just did not gel with government. And so when he made this error of judgement... they've lopped off his head as a consequence."
Powell, a former head of the senior doctors' union, said the loss of a key figurehead would "hurt the already-destabilised health system" and undermine the "seriously troubled" reforms.
"It's reputational damage on top of an existing credibility issue."
Former ACT leader Richard Prebble said Campbell's expulsion was "a tragedy for everyone" and the government would struggle to replace him with someone of the same calibre and experience.
"If you fire every director for having a political view, you're going to end up with very few directors," Prebble said.
"I don't agree with that health policy, but it should at least be run by someone who's capable."
Prebble said the code of conduct, in his view, only covered Campbell's comments which related to his position at the health authority, not other issues.
"I completely disagree with his point of view, but I absolutely agree with his right not to be censored."
That position puts him at odds with current ACT leader David Seymour who was the first politician to call for Campbell's sacking.
"Freedom of speech doesn't mean that your speech has no consequences. If you signed a contract to behave in a certain way and you don't behave that way, you face the consequences."
Seymour said Campbell should also be fired from his position as chair of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
"If it is inappropriate for him to chair healthcare, since when was the environment less important?" Seymour said.
"Or does David Parker, as Minister for the Environment, have different standards from Ayesha Verrall, as the Minister of Health?"
Dr Ayesha Verrall, left, and David Seymour. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The National Party did not initially call for Campbell to be axed, but public service spokesperson Simeon Brown said it was the right decision and he should be gone from the EPA too.
"This is someone who knew exactly what he was doing... he knows the rules of the game. He was required to be politically neutral. He wasn't, and he should be actually be an example to all other public servants."
A spokesperson for Parker declined to comment last night.
In a LinkedIn post over the weekend, Campbell lambasted National's Three Waters plan as a thinly disguised "dog whistle on co-governance".
He went on to target National's leader, writing: "Christopher Luxon might be able to rescue his party from stupidity on climate change but rescuing this from a well he has dug himself might be harder."
In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Verrall said she no longer had confidence in Campbell's ability to remain politically unbiased.
"It is of vital importance that all Public Service board members, especially chairs, uphold the political neutrality required under the Code of Conduct which they sign upon appointment."
Verrall said she would announce Campbell's permanent replacement "in due course".