Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) chairman Rob Campbell isn't backing down from championing a Green MP's proposed law aimed at reducing the harm alcohol causes.
In a recent speech to business leaders in Taranaki, Campbell encouraged them to step up and do more to support public health.
He asked them if they were doing anything "about the plagues of sugar and fast fast food pushers targeting low-income areas, or the liquor pushers on the same mission in your district?"
"Maybe you look to support Green MP Chloe Swarbrick’s private members bill to assist limiting proliferation of liquor outlets and promotions," the chairman of Te Whatu Ora told the CEOs.
Just days ago, Health Minister Andrew Little slammed a public health official in Counties Manukau who had written to his local MPs asking them to support the bill, saying it would help stop normalising and glorifying alcohol.
Little told 1News Dr Gary Jackson's letter was an "egregious breach of public service standards".
Little said he had contacted Te Whatu Ora management about the "inappropriate" letter and it was promptly retracted.
When 1News asked Campbell whether his advocacy for Swarbrick’s bill was appropriate for a senior public servant he responded that his views were "not "official" or "government" or "party political views".
Despite giving the address to Taranaki business leaders as chairman of Te Whatu Ora, Campbell said the comments were "just mine, and they should be considered as such".
“Expressing a strong personal view around inequities and bad outcomes isn’t unusual for me, I got involved in the Pae Ora reform process to contribute to change."
In the written statement, Campbell said he understood public service expectations around impartiality.
A key part of being a public servant is remaining politically impartial, particularly if you are in a prominent decision-making position, so as to avoid the risk of there being a perception that you are not able to work in a politically-neutral way.
On his Linkedin page, Campbell went even further in his support.
"I’m totally with Chloe Swarbrick on this".
"The alcohol lobby may be strong but the health lobby should prove stronger."
"Kia kaha to the Green MP."
The Public Service Commission warns public servants that they must behave in a politically neutral manner at work and that even actions in their personal lives can create a perception that they're not able to operate in an impartial way.
"The confidence that the Government or future Ministers have in our organisation can be undermined in the same way, a consequence is that we must always consider the way our actions may be perceived by reasonable observers, and accept that our official responsibilities may place some constraints on the way we exercise our personal freedoms," the Commission said.
The Commission advises top public servants to do their best to keep out of politics.
"Those of us in very senior positions may be required to have a very low level of involvement, perhaps with our interest being discernible only by a visit to a polling station on election day."
While Little has not commented directly on Campbell's endorsements of the Green MP's bill, in a written statement he said for the public service to have integrity it needs to remain politically neutral.
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