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Speaker 1: More bumbling and competence of Health in New Zealand. As

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Speaker 1: a reviewers launched into their procurement processes, got a two

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Speaker 1: million dollar contract we told you about yesterday went to

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Speaker 1: a UK based firm MBI Healthcare Technologies. Health New Zealand

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Speaker 1: claimed MBI were the only company in the whole world

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Speaker 1: able to do this, so advertising the job wasn't necessary.

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Speaker 1: Trouble was a senior manager in Health New Zealand had

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Speaker 1: links to that company. Now the Health Minu's dissuming and

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Speaker 1: Brown is with us morning, good morning. This doesn't pass

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Speaker 1: the pub test, does it No?

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Speaker 2: And that's why I've asked for a review of this.

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Speaker 2: I wasn't satisfied when Health New Zealand said that what

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Speaker 2: they said around this being the only company in the

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Speaker 2: world which could do that. I've asked for a review

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Speaker 2: to sure procurement rules were being followed at the time

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Speaker 2: back in twenty twenty three when this happened, but more

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Speaker 2: importantly to make sure that this type of practice and

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Speaker 2: procurement rules are being followed today.

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Speaker 1: What's your gut? Is it bungling or scandal?

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Speaker 2: I think two there's two issues here. One is where

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Speaker 2: the procurement rules being followed. The second is are they

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Speaker 2: being followed today? I think on the face of it,

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Speaker 2: what you've said is right. But what I want to

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Speaker 2: know is have it and have assurances of is that

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Speaker 2: this isn't that that we are following forcurment rules. This

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Speaker 2: is taxpayers money, MinC. This is your listener's taxpayers money.

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Speaker 2: They expect value for money from every single dollar and

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Speaker 2: across every single contract, and I want to make sure

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Speaker 2: that is what we're receiving.

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Speaker 1: I can't work out what the real issue is here.

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Speaker 1: I mean to tell me that there is only one company.

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Speaker 1: I mean, what they were looking to do in that

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Speaker 1: contract wasn't wasn't remarkable, it wasn't brain surger. It was

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Speaker 1: just you know, to help you the flow of patients.

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Speaker 1: Better to insult me by saying this is there's only

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Speaker 1: one company on planet Earth that can do this is

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Speaker 1: bullshit and you know it's that.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I've asked for a review. Senators that comment,

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Speaker 2: I've asked for a review because ultimately, you know, these are

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Speaker 2: the type of issues that taxpayers expect to be you know,

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Speaker 2: they accept good procurement policies to be followed. Look, there

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Speaker 2: are instances where you know, government agencies don't have choice,

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Speaker 2: but ultimately they need to go through a robust process

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Speaker 2: to determine that. I've asked a review to ensure that,

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Speaker 2: you know, taxpayers money is being respected across the contracting

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Speaker 2: process at Health New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: And that's insult number one, just telling me that when

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Speaker 1: it's so blatantly not true. But also we just happen

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Speaker 1: to have somebody in the company who's associated back in Britain.

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Speaker 1: I mean, how do you explain that?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think that's another part of the issue here,

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Speaker 2: and that's again why I've asked for a review of

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Speaker 2: what's happened. I'm not going to get into the particular

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Speaker 2: personal issues that I think the stuff journalists have been uncovering,

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Speaker 2: but I would just point out that, you know, New

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Speaker 2: Zealand taxpayers expect to have confidence and procurement policies. There

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Speaker 2: are procurement policies for a reason, that is to ensure

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Speaker 2: that value for money for every tax payer dollar is spent.

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Speaker 2: And that's what I expect from Health New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: Which debtails into this Deloitte report which hasn't got the

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Speaker 1: coverage it deserves, is this has there been sabotaged there

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Speaker 1: when Central says to the regions we want to do

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Speaker 1: this and they literally deliberately and overtly ignore the instructions.

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Speaker 1: You are sabotaging the system, aren't you. Well.

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Speaker 2: I think that Deloitte report which was released last Friday,

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Speaker 2: and you're right, hasn't had the coverage that it needs.

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Speaker 2: But basically it points out the failures of the last

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Speaker 2: governments reforms of health in New Zealand. They jammed twenty

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Speaker 2: one bhbs together, put a new letter head on and

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Speaker 2: said job done. Ultimately, they then fired all of the

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Speaker 2: financial controllers. They removed that local accountability. We saw a

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Speaker 2: huge blowout in the budget and without the financial controllers,

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Speaker 2: as the report says, the financial system was being managed

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Speaker 2: via via Excel spreadsheet, which is which is appalling. That's

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Speaker 2: been fixed now. But this is what we're dealing with

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Speaker 2: the government is having to get this health system organized

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Speaker 2: and focused back on the patient and focused on delivery

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Speaker 2: with clear accountabilities right down through that organization. It's a

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Speaker 2: big job, Mike, but that's what I'm focused on as

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Speaker 2: Minister of how focusing on delivering for the patient and

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Speaker 2: making sure it's delivering within its budget.

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Speaker 1: Appreciate you telling me you have a good weekend. Simon Brown,

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Speaker 1: who is the Health Minister with us this morning. That

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Speaker 1: Deloitte report which we featured from last week, seventy seven pages,

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Speaker 1: It honestly is worth reading, if only to remind you

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Speaker 1: just how incompetently run this country was, how dangerous it became,

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Speaker 1: and for all of the sympathy we've had over this

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Speaker 1: ensuing period of the public servants getting let go. By

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Speaker 1: the time you've read that Deloitte report and read Brian

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Speaker 1: Roach's Report into the Public Service, you will have less sympathy,

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Speaker 1: believe me, for what's been going on in the public service.

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Speaker 2: For more from the My Asking Breakfast, listen live to

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Speaker 2: news talks. It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow

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Speaker 2: the podcast on iHeartRadio