Simeon Brown ousts Medical Council leadership over 'ideological agenda'
Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Health Minister Simeon Brown has removed the leadership of New Zealand's medical regulator, accusing the Medical Council of pursuing an “ideological agenda” and becoming distracted from its core responsibilities.
Brown has declined to reappoint chairperson Dr Rachelle Love and deputy chairperson Simon Watt, despite both remaining eligible for reappointment under the statutory nine-year term limit.
The decision appears to be unprecedented.
Love (Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa), a Christchurch head and neck surgeon, was appointed to the council in 2020 by then Health Minister Andrew Little and elected chairperson by fellow council members in 2024.
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The Post understands both Love and Watt, a barrister, had the support of the council to continue in their respective roles when their terms expired in August.
Brown said ministerial appointments were ultimately a matter for ministers.
“The Medical Council has become increasingly distracted by politics instead of focusing on its core responsibilities of improving patient outcomes and ensuring New Zealanders can get the care they need, when they need it,” he said in a statement to The Post.
Brown said the regulator was straying into ideological territory, pointing to its recent consultation on two draft statements setting out updated expectations for doctors on cultural competence and safety and Māori health and wellbeing.
These required clinicians to understand how culture affects health outcomes and how bias and systemic factors can contribute to inequities.
'You only need to look at the council’s recent consultation documents, which ask doctors to examine their own ‘privilege’, to challenge the ‘dominant culture’ of the health system, to study the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation, and to help ‘dismantle’ systems,“ Brown said.
“Kiwis expect the Medical Council to be focused on strengthening the medical workforce, not on an ideological agenda.”
On Monday, the council’s website confirmed the appointment of former MidCentral DHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth Clark as chairperson and professional director Ming-Chun Wu as deputy.
“I expect the new council members to refocus on what matters most to Kiwis; putting patients first, improving health outcomes, and supporting the growth of our medical workforce. Those priorities should always have been at the heart of the council’s work,” Brown said.
Love and Watt did not return requests for comment.
The Medical Council is responsible for registering doctors, setting professional standards and ensuring practitioners are competent and fit to practise.
The move has prompted concern among senior doctors, who say it raises questions about the independence of professional regulators.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the decision was “weird” and raised wider concerns about how health workforce regulation was being handled.
Love was outspoken about the importance of protecting the body’s independence, amid government proposals to overhaul health workforce regulation.
Last year she warned against politicians playing a direct role in determining who can practise medicine, amid proposed changes to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act.
Under those proposals, for the first time, the minister of health would be able to direct health profession regulators to implement Government health policy, marking a shift from the current arm’s-length model of professional regulation. That includes the setting of scopes of practice and changes to registration processes.
Last week, it was reported all six members of the Psychotherapists Board have resigned.
In a statement, the Medical Council said: “Council members are appointed by the Minister of Health.
“Four medical practitioner members are nominated through an election of the medical profession and subsequently appointed by the Minister. Four medical practitioner members and all lay members are appointed directly by the Minister … Questions about individual appointment or reappointment decisions are best directed to the Minister’s office.”