KEY POINTS:
Rookie Health Minister David Cunliffe is unfazed by a strong public outcry in Hawkes Bay over his decision to sack the district's health board - and says he isn't viewing the situation as a popularity contest.
He will not back away from his decision to dump the board, although he acknowledges the move is not going down well in some parts of the region where five councils are now banding together in an unprecedented way to legally challenge the mass dismissal.
"There's no doubt that the board is quite popular in some sectors of the Bay," Mr Cunliffe told the Weekend Herald. "It's certainly got some detractors as well.
"But in the end I'm not looking at it as a popularity contest - I'm trying to understand what's the right thing to do in terms of the ability of the board to sustainably deliver health services."
The New Lynn MP's appointment to the Health portfolio in Prime Minister Helen Clark's Cabinet reshuffle in October raised eyebrows within Labour as well as outside it.
It was expected that Mr Cunliffe - who has been in Parliament since 1999 - would be promoted to a prestigious front-bench position after putting in a good performance in his Immigration and Communications portfolios.
But the health role was something of a surprise and he acknowledged it would take some time to get to grips with his new portfolio.
Emerging from a hectic fortnight, Mr Cunliffe said this week he knew the portfolio would be difficult - and it had been.
"It's a busy portfolio, it's close to a quarter of the Government's Budget and it's a very layered and diverse system," he said.
His early no-nonsense approach is winning favour with Helen Clark, who is understood to be very pleased with his performance.
Compared to his predecessor Pete Hodgson, Mr Cunliffe has resembled an interventionist in his short time in the portfolio.
He says he doesn't think he has been "excessively interventionist" if the entire health system is taken into consideration, because it is decentralised.
He plays down his unusual foray into a pay dispute between senior doctors and the country's DHBs as little more than "baking the scones and providing an office" for the two sides to get talking. "I can only say I'm doing it in good conscience to give it a go."
When he steps away from fighting the fires that have been enveloping the health system, he talks about a vision for the system that includes greater regional co-operation but no major structural change.
The DHB model - despite the wave of problems it has endured - is "fundamentally sound", Mr Cunliffe said.
"I've certainly not come into the job one year out from an election with the desire to bring about another wave of structural change."
But he is interested in looking at some issues in a more nationwide or regional way, including information technology, workforce planning and budgets and resources.
BUSY TIME
* David Cunliffe bursts on to the health scene:
* November 2007 - Famously tells Parliament he is now "running this show".
* December 2007 - Responds to a series of problems at Wellington's Capital and Coast DHB by replacing the chairwoman with Sir John Anderson.
* February 2008 - Takes the rare action of wading into a pay dispute between senior doctors and the country's DHBs.
* February 2008 - Gives the Hawkes Bay DHB just under a week to explain why it shouldn't be sacked.
* February 2008 - Sacks the Hawkes Bay DHB and appoints Sir John Anderson as a commissioner.
