Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says Steve Maharey has offered his resignation from his role as chairman of Pharmac, amid the fallout from Rob Campbell's sacking.
Campbell was removed as chairperson of Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ and the Environmental Protection Authority last week following comments made on social media about the National Party's water policy.
In the wake of that, Maharey contacted the office of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins about the regular column he writes for Stuff, NZ Herald has reported.
The health minister says there is a process to go through with the Public Service Commission before any decision is made on accepting it. (Source: 1News)
In one January column, he wrote "nothing seems new or fresh about the team National is offering".
Today, Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said Maharey had offered his resignation.
"I have confidence in Steve Maharey because the situation is extremely different. Rob Campbell accused the leader of the opposition of being racist and called his policy stupid, and while he apologised to me, he doubled down in the media. Mr Maharey has been much more pro-active in coming forward, identifying there is a problem, and undertaking to address it."
She said there was a process to go through with the Public Service Commission before any decision was made on whether his resignation would be accepted.
National Party public service spokesman Simeon Brown said it should have been dealt with much more efficiently.
"He knows how the rules work. He should have followed those."
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