Tim Macindoe took up the role of ambassador for the NZ Graduate School of Medicine two months ago. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
A former National MP and incumbent Hamilton City Councillor has been hired by the University of Waikato to advocate for its proposed third medical school.
Tim Macindoe - who was elected to the council in a February by-election - said he took up the role of ambassador for the New Zealand Graduate School of Medicine two months ago.
In the part-time paid contractor position, he will promote the medical school to other councils around the country, beginning next year, with the contract running to at least July.
"I've been a strong advocate for the concept of the third medical school for a very long time," Macindoe said.
"I was delighted to be invited by the Vice Chancellor (Professor Neil Quigley) to play a role in helping to advocate for it."
Macindoe was an MP in Hamilton West who entered Parliament in 2008 and lost his seat in 2020.
He said the proposed medical school was based on an internationally proven model.
Its aim was to train doctors to address the critical shortage of GPs across the country, particularly in rural New Zealand.
The medical school has been controversial since it was mooted in 2017, but the idea was not pursued by the Labour government and did not gain any traction until National campaigned on it last year, ahead of winning the general election.
The university signed a memorandum of understanding with the new government in February to progress a business case.
Then in September, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced an initial cost-benefit analysis of the proposal provided confidence for it to progress to the next stage, with a full business case expected next year.
But last month it was revealed ACT leader and coalition co-leader David Seymour had expressed dissatisfaction with the analysis in August, which he said skipped over key costs.
The medical school was expected to cost about $380 million to set up, of which $100 million needed to be funded by the university.
Asked if his role was to lobby other councils to contribute financially, Macindoe said that was not the situation.
He said his role was dependent on Cabinet greenlighting the business case, but in the meantime he would undertake a series of visits to raise awareness among territorial authorities.
"So that those who have a particular interest in the health and wellbeing of people in their communities are aware of how this can be a model that'll really work, not only to help those who are currently struggling to find a GP in their area, but also in a way that will bolster their hospitals because local hospitals will be part of the training programme."
Macindoe said he would present to councils because they had a connection to their communities.
"We want people in local government to be aware of how this can be beneficial to their communities and ultimately I expect it will branch out to other opportunities - meeting with health practitioners, going to see small GP practices etc."
He said he would work in the role around his duties as a councillor and if the council was ever required to discuss or vote on financial support for the medical school, he would not take part to avoid a conflict of interest.
Victoria University of Wellington Professor of Law Dean Knight believed local authorities had an interest in community wellbeing and health.
But he said the role of local authorities in advocacy in government space was top of mind following the government's announcement this week it planned to remove the four wellbeing provisions - social, economic, environmental and cultural - from the Local Government Act.
"The fact that councils are being lobbied to express support or otherwise (for the medical school) is curious," Knight said.
Macindoe himself said he supported the removal of the four wellbeing provisions.
Transparency International NZ chief executive Julie Haggie said there was nothing wrong with Macindoe contracting to the university to advocate to councils for the medical school.
However, she said the university should justify the rationale and expenditure.
"They should be accountable and transparent about the purpose of an ambassador and the expected return.
"Accountability and transparency should also extend to the appointment process, especially as the university has been found wanting by the Auditor-General earlier this year, in relation to this sort of contracting of services.
"The public and those who might compete for this sort of service would want assurance that a fair and robust process was followed."
In May, the Auditor-General wrote an open letter criticising the way the university engaged former National MP Steven Joyce's consultancy firm for work.
John Ryan said Joyce's firm had been paid $1.1m in public funds between 2019 and 2023, but that the university did not engage in a competitive procurement process when it reached out to Joyce directly.
Ryan said in that case a clear and documented explanation of the reason for the services as well as an assurance that public money was being appropriately spent was missing.
Quigley - who did the first presentation to Hamilton City Council recently in a private meeting - did not respond to a request for an interview.
The university was asked a series of questions including how much Macindoe was being paid, which budget this came from, how he was recruited and whether he would be lobbying councils for funding.
In a statement a spokesperson said: "Tim is hired on a fixed-term consulting contract to assist with stakeholder engagement. He works as required."
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