John McLean: Shoot out at Health New Zealand

Wake up Margie, I think I got something to say to you…

Fepulea’i Margie Apa is currently the chief executive of Health New Zealand, but not for long. The last Labour Government appointed her in 2022. “Fepulea’i” is a chiefly Samon title, but Margie’s days as a chief at Health New Zealand are distinctly numbered.

Health New Zealand was established, under that name, under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. Under Labour however, Health NZ was not known by its real name. It was called by the Māori language name, “Te Whatu Ora”. Much of what happened under Labour was of course unreal.

Under the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act, the first thing the Minister of Health must be satisfied of in appointing the board of Health NZ is that the “board collectively has knowledge of, and expertise and experience in relation to, te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) and tikanga Māori”. But that primary requirement is now irrelevant because on 22 July 2024 Minister of Health Shane Reti (a real Māori and medical doctor) sacked Health New Zealand’s board for its abject incompetence and appointed Lester Levy (also a real medical doctor, but not a Māori) to govern Health New Zealand as “commissioner”.

On Tuesday 15 August 2024 (a couple of days ago), Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa made a presentation to Health NZ senior management foreshadowing that 4492 staff would be removed from Health NZ, including 470 doctors and 1491 nurses. Margie made her presentation without telling Commissioner Lester. On hearing of the presentation, Lester sent a memo to all Health NZ employees to “set the record straight”, stating “For the avoidance of doubt, what was presented is in direct conflict with our thinking and should be dismissed”.

Margie’s presentation is not the only thing that should be dismissed. So should she, for presenting something behind Commissioner Levy’s back that contradicted Levy’s intentions for Health NZ. Levy has no intention to axe front-line medicos.

Margie Apa has absolutely zilch public health expertise. In that regard, she’s like sacked former Health NZ chair Rob Campbell, the self-aggrandizing darling of the Left, whom I’ve covered in a previous Substack

The notion of an immutable personal “identity” is a secular vestige of Abrahamic religious notions of an immortal soul and makes no logical sense. That said, albeit with incremental – and sometimes drastic - changes, most people exhibit some continuity in beliefs and preferred activities over their lives. Not so New Zealand’s Robert (“Rob”)

Margie has kicked around in the public health system for years. It’s difficult to say whether she was a pure DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hire as Health NZ chief executive. However, the pedant will observe the pounamu pendant around Fepulea’i Margie’s neck.

Margie can’t be completely stupid. She gained a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Auckland University, which is of course a hell of a lot harder to achieve than a BA in Sociology from Massey University. That said, Margie apparently failed, as Health NZ chief executive, to detect (or report to the now-fired Health NZ Board) that Health NZ has been exceeding it budget by $130 million per month for the last six months. We can safely say that Margie, even if not mentally negligible, is no intellectual titan in the mold of Lester Levy.

So why has Margie deliberately done something that will cost her her job as Health NZ chief executive? - a job for which she’s paid just under $1 million per annum. Let’s speculate…

• Perhaps Margie could be the Martyr/Crusader type epitomized by Rob Campbell. (Campbell signed his own death warrant, as Health NZ chair, by embarking on an inappropriate, politically partisan social media crusade in favour of the “Three Waters” reforms.)

• Margie might think she can win a Mexican stand-off with Levy, and bring about Levy’s downfall. Fat chance.

• Or has Margie simply had enough and is doing a Jacinda…when the going gets tough, you just bunk off.

• Perhaps Margie is engineering her departure to receive a whopping severance payment. After all, she probably wrote her own employment contract. Perhaps she’s in the same plush boat as outgoing Housing NZ chief executive Andrew McKenzie, who received a mind-boggling $365,500 for simply quitting, after having done a dreadful job.

  
  

More will be revealed, in the fullness of time.

John McLean is a Citizen typist and Enthusiastic amateur who writes at John's Substack