4. Question No. 4—HealthHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 4—Health4. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Health: Does he have confidence that the appointment process for the new district health board chairs was conducted in line with State Services guidelines and that all candidates were aware of the expectations around the time commitment involved?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): Can I start by acknowledging the outstanding efforts of the ambulance staff doctors nurses and allied health workers that have been involved in the response to the eruption of Whakaari / White Island. I'm advised that currently we have patients many in a critical condition in a number of hospitals across the country including Whakatāne Tauranga Waikato Auckland Middlemore Hutt Valley and Christchurch. I'm sure members on both sides of the House would join me in thanking our health services for their hard work dedication compassion and professionalism. Returning to the member's question the answer is yes to both points.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Can I endorse the Minister's comments and ask: were all candidates for DHB board appointments interviewed?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: All 76 board appointments were made to DHBs with a further eight elected members appointed to chair and deputy roles. The Ministry of Health conducted a thorough appointment process which included the—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order!Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: —Director-General of Health talking one on one with each prospective chair about the requirements of the roles. The Ministry of Health gathered full CVs and conflict of interest declarations for all appointees.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Did the new chair of the West Coast District Health Board make his time commitment clear in his interview?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Rick Barker has stated that the publicly attributed comments that he made were taken out of context. He has been clear to me in private and also in public that he is absolutely committed to doing his very best for the West Coast District Health Board. And it may interest the member to know that none of the five previous chairs of the West Coast District Health Board have lived on the West Coast at the time of their appointments.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Did in that commitment he reassure the Minister that the role would involve more than a few emails and phone calls and a four- to six-weekly meeting?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Mr Barker has been clear that the comments that have been quoted in the media were taken out of context.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Were all candidates for board positions advised of the outcome of the selection process prior to the Minister's announcement?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: All candidates I appointed were written to before the announcements were made public.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was not about all successful candidates. It was about all candidates.SPEAKER: Well it was an answer; the question is whether the partial addressing is sufficient. I will ask the Minister to give a more fulsome answer.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I can certainly be clear that all the candidates I appointed were written to before the announcements were made public. The detail of whether everybody who was not appointed was told beforehand is something I'm happy to look in to for the member.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Were any of the unsuccessful candidates first advised informally by the Minister that they would be appointed prior to the announcement being made on Saturday?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I have been very clear in every conversation with every member that I've spoken to that the appointments are the gift of Cabinet and that I certainly made no promises about any appointments before Cabinet decisions were taken.Willow-Jean Prime: Can the Minister tell the House how many Māori appointments have been made to DHBs and how this compares with the appointments following the 2016 local body election?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: We all know that Māori have poorer health outcomes and if we are to turn that around it is vital that we have Māori serving in leadership and governance roles throughout our health service. So I am pleased to advise the House that we now have four Māori chairs of DHBs: Harry Burkhardt at Northland District Health Board Jim Mather at Lakes District Health Board Kim Ngarimu at Tairāwhiti District Health Board and Shayne Walker at Hawke's Bay District Health Board. No Māori chairs were appointed in 2016.