Clark out, Hipkins in
Beleaguered Health Minister David Clark has resigned as a minister and left Cabinet.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Education Minister Chris Hipkins to the health portfolio, saying he will hold that role until the election.
‘‘Post-election I intend to reassess who is best placed to take the health portfolio forward,’’ Ardern said.
Clark made the surprise announcement at the Beehive yesterday morning. He will stay on as an MP and contest his electorate of Dunedin North at the upcoming election.
Clark said it had been a ‘‘privilege’’ to serve in the role, but acknowledged it hadn’t ‘‘all been plain sailing’’.
Ardern said she accepted Clark’s resignation after he offered it on Wednesday.
‘‘David Clark contacted me yesterday to confirm his wish to resign as a minister and I accepted that resignation.
‘‘David has come to the conclusion his presence in the role is creating an unhelpful distraction from the Government’s ongoing response to Covid-19 and wider health reform,’’ she said.
Ardern said she had had a discussion with Clark late last week about the Government’s Covid-19 response, during which Clark concluded he had been a distraction to the Government.
‘‘Last week I had discussions with Dr Clark; we talked about how important the Covid response was and the need for that to be our primary focus as a Government, as a Cabinet, and as ministers.’’
Ardern said Clark had himself come to the conclusion that his ‘‘presence in the health role was causing too much distraction to the Government’s ongoing response to Covid-19’’.
She would not say whether she would have sacked Clark had he not opted to go himself.
‘‘David has put the interests of the team ahead of his own,’’ Ardern said. ‘‘My view is that when someone absolutely needs to go from the role, that’s the conversation I have with them.
‘‘In this case, we had a discussion around what we needed to do to make sure Covid was a priority and what we needed to do to make sure there weren’t distractions,’’ Ardern said.
Clark’s resignation came after weeks of damaging revelations about his handling of the health portfolio, including the mismanagement of quarantine and managed isolation facilities designed to stop the spread of Covid-19 into New Zealand.
Ardern said that she would ‘‘leave the door open’’ to Clark taking another Cabinet role after the election, but it would not be a health role.