Levy's hatchet man Censured, and PM Luxon on "Low Performing Organisations"

Nothing surprises anymore in this govt's Trump-lite wrecking crew.

One of Health NZ czar Lester Levy’s top executives has a complaint against him for “physical contact” (No, not MP Andrew Bayly. . . . a different one). And now we learn from Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne that another one of his henchmen, an accountant/executive brought in to audit and cut Health NZ, has been censured in 2023 by his governing body, the Institute for Chartered Accountants. . . for his failings as an auditor.

You can’t make this stuff up: Levy’s top accountant was so bad at his job that his peak professional body issued a formal statement of disapproval.

You know how bad you have to be for a professional body to actually “out” one of it’s own?

You know how well-connected you have to be to Lester Levy to get the top job just a year after being censured by your own supervisory body?

He and another PwC auditor had failed to fix financial headroom figures, and to document issues of independence.

One Health NZ employee, who asked not to be identified, says: “The Commissioner has a group of staff that he personally brought into the organisation. None of these people went through a recruitment process.”

The staffer says there have been multiple complaints, personal grievances and resignations because of behaviour by a few among the large group of new appointees. “The organisation can barely function – so many delegations of authority have been removed, senior leaders can’t even approve travel and contracts. Invoices are going unsigned as the backlog builds.”

“Their official role was ambiguous, but their authority was clear from the start – they acted and spoke directly for Lester. They led the business reviews and have driven the cost reduction. This has been brutally managed. Neither understands healthcare, and yet they have a massive say in what stops and what continues.”

Brutality demotivates people – good people depart or psychologically ‘check out’. Safety and self-preservation become paramount, which makes positive change even harder. The net result is what you’re seeing today in the organisation – a broken, or at least breaking, culture.”

Another former senior leader says nobody should have to work in such an environment; a third says staff had reported offensive comments, and scant regard for employment law. “This behaviour is not acceptable in any leader, does not motivate people and will not solve the underlying dilemma of health system affordability in New Zealand.”

Levy has brought in a cadre of deputy commissioners (Roger Jarrold, Ken Whelan and Kylie Clegg) – the four commissioners are paid nearly $1m between them.

Asked by Newsroom whether reference checks had been conducted on Foliaki, Bennett and all the other top level hires since he took office as commissioner last July, Levy declined to answer.

“We want to get rid of the bureaucracy, and we have to,” Luxon says. “We have more workforce in the frontline parts of our system, and yet we’re getting poor results, and so we need those results to be stepped up. And the reality is, we know we’ve got a low performing organisation, and we need to turn it around.”

The article:

https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/03/04/censured-new-concerns-over-lester-levys-razor-gang/

“What I would tell you” is that Health NZ is actually high-performing. We get decent outcomes for how underfunded we are. We’re seeing more patients, and delivering more care, under austerity and staffing cuts and hiring freezes and widespread and intentional understaffing. We spend less than 19 other OECD nations: mid-range, as you can see in the graphs below.

“The reality is” Health NZ is being used as a piggybank for billions in tax breaks for the wealthy.

“What I would tell you” is Health NZ has had 3% of its funding cut by Mr Luxon’s demolitions team, in the face of ongoing inflation, and huge population growth/immigration that this government blindly encourages, while not building the schools, hospitals, or essential public services NZ needs. Chopping public services down, in fact.

“Listen: What I’m telling you” is that a failed accountant is the least of their problems: this current government is making policies that are harmful to the long-term interests of the average New Zealander who won’t be able to afford private for-profit hospital care. (Very profitable for tobacco corporations and property investors though).

They are consummate actors unburdened by the truth, dedicated to making the rich richer at the expense of essential public services. Dismantlers and dissemblers from the top down.

-Dr Gary Payinda