Captain Cunliffe Strikes Again

David Cunliffe has finally dealt the death blow to the Hawkes Bay District Health Board. In his latest authoritarian move so far, he has sacked the current Hawkes Bay DHB commissioner and instead replaced him with NZ’s Mr Fix-It – Sir John Anderson. This is an interesting development of what I blogged about recently. Cunliffe has finally exercised his legislative and executive power in taking control of the out of sync and dysfunctional District Health Board. Detractors would cry claims of ministerial abuse and a bypass of democratic power, but one must look at the reality of the situation. If an independent Auditor General’s report can find the Hawkes Bay District Health Board so wanting, then surely it is justifiable for Cunliffe to take drastic action. Heather Roy can cry all she likes about Captain Cunliffe’s control of the Health Ministry, but she cannot deny the intrinsic human reality of the Hakwes Bay health system. Cunliffe is their shining knight in armour, and his right hand man Sir John Anderson is the silver bullet in his ministerial gun. This situation is still developing, so it would be wont to make a final political assessment just yet, but insomuch as we have seen, Captain Cunliffe is keeping a tight ship, and we should be supporting him in his endeavours.