Senior New Zealand Public Servant, Steve Maharey has offered to resign over political comments he made in a regular opinion column he writes, but Minister of Health, Ayesha Verrall has so far not accepted it.
Mr Maharey (pictured) is Chair of drug-buying Agency Pharmac, the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC), and Education New Zealand.
A former Labour Cabinet Minister, he also writes a regular opinion column.
The spotlight has fallen on politicised comments he made in the column after the summary firing of Rob Campbell from Chairing roles at Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) and the Environmental Protection Authority following comments made on social media.
Ms Verrall confirmed Mr Maharey had offered to resign over his own comments, but said she still had confidence in him and was seeking advice from the Public Service Commission.
She said the situation was completely different from that of Mr Campbell.
“With Mr Campbell, he called the Leader of the Opposition stupid, and he implied his policies were racist,” Ms Verrall said.
“While he apologised to me, he then doubled down on those criticisms in the press,” she said.
“Mr Maharey has reached out and been contrite, and we’ll take the advice of the Public Sector Commissioner.”
Ms Verrall said the key issue was that after breaching the code of conduct and Mr Campbell’s subsequent refusal to step back from that, she had lost confidence in him.
Minister for the ACC, Peeni Henare said he had not sought advice from officials about whether Mr Maharey’s comments were appropriate.
“I have spoken to him and I continue to have confidence in him and the board,” he said.
Minister for Education, Jan Tinetti was less confident, saying she had sought advice and stood by the Public Sector Codes of Conduct.
“Codes of Conduct are there for a reason and we must make sure that our people in those positions are politically neutral. I’m reserving my judgment at this point,” Ms Tinetti said.
Mr Maharey has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Wellington 8 March 2023
