The difference between good and mediocre Ministers

The Auckland labtests proposal gives us a good example of the difference between a good and a mediocre Minister.

We learn in Parliament that Pete Hodgson became aware of concerns about a conflict of interest in the Auckland medical laboratory contract last July, but he was assured by officials that it had been dealt with so did not directly contact the chairmen of any of the s three health boards to seek any further reassurance.

A really good Minister should be following up on any major item which can negatively affect his or her portfolio. Any idiot can just leave it all to the officials. We saw this with George Hawkins over leaky homes – he ignored letter after letter warning him of problems, because the very officials being complained about were reassuring him all was fine.

A good Minister should have political instincts which guide them as to whether go beyond the bland assurances of officials, and ask for more information. A full report on the Auckland lab tests contract may have exposed early on how unsound it was.