National's Shane Reti recently lost the health portfolio.
National's Shane Reti recently lost the health portfolio.
Editorial
Demoted Health Minister Dr Shane Reti might have been inclined to make a song and dance after losing his health portfolio last month in Christopher Luxon’s Cabinet reshuffle.
But he hasn’t and he won’t because that’s not the type of person Reti is. For the mostpart, he is reasonable and a decent person, probably too nice for the hard-nosed decisions and ruthlessness required of a Minister of Health.
He knows his way with a scalpel but slashing health jobs was not what he was trained to do.
The doctors code of ethics states: “Doctors should ensure that all conduct in the practice of their profession is above reproach.”
With waitlists spiralling and cuts across the sector eating into health services, all to the public’s dismay, the prognosis for the good doctor was flat-lining.
We know Reti is well stocked in the grey matter because doctor’s certificates don’t come in cereal boxes, and we know he has mana because others who have previously been blamed for a broken health system have vented at the issue.
It’s hard not to mention “health” and “poisoned chalice” in the same breath as the portfolio has stumped some of the best MPs.
Simeon Brown has been a go-to MP for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon when a ministry needs a guiding hand.
Looking back at politicians who have held the portfolio, it’s been a stepping stone for some and a poison dart for others.
Sir Bill Birch, Tony Ryall and Jonathan Coleman (to name but a few) have all held the health portfolio, but none could fix a system that has been underfunded for decades.
Former Prime Minister Sir Bill English once held the health portfolio. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Helen Clark, Dame Jenny Shipley, Sir Bill English, David Cunliffe, Chris Hipkins and Andrew Little were all Health Ministers and went on to lead their political parties.
However, it’s debatable if any of them achieved great outcomes for New Zealanders while holding the portfolio, which is why health is in the precarious position it is today.
Since taking over from Reti, Simeon Brown has kept the bad headlines away and quietened the vocal southern voice over the Dunedin Hospital debate.
That’s not to say he’s effected change to the monster ministry but, at least for now, the relevant health issues are not making the news.
Brown, one of Luxon’s go-to, Mr Fix-It MPs, is a hard worker and very determined.
But if two medical doctors – Labour’s Dr Ayesha Verrall and National’s Reti – could not resuscitate the health system, then Brown may need to be at his best to produce the desired outcome.
