{"id":240229,"date":"2026-01-18T23:02:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240229\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T23:02:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T23:02:01","slug":"2500-a-day-dunedin-hospital-crown-managers-fee-more-than-doubles-from-previous-roles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/240229\/","title":{"rendered":"$2500 a day: Dunedin hospital Crown manager\u2019s fee more than doubles from previous roles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cabinet paper suggests Davies\u2019 Crown manager fees will line up with those of Health NZ chairman Lester Levy, who will receive fees totalling up to $450,000<\/a> this fiscal year, based on a $2500 per day rate to work 130 days annually, with scope for an additional 50 days provided for in a contingency. <\/p>\n

Levy\u2019s fees — because of the high workload — are roughly double the highest fees suggested in public sector guidance for a public entity chair, and could be higher still if the contingency is used.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet paper related to Davies\u2019 appointment notes: \u201cThis rate [$2500 per day] is consistent with that of the Health NZ board chair when multiplied across a full year for the expected time to be spent on Crown manager business.\u201d <\/p>\n

Despite the Cabinet paper\u2019s indication that Davies\u2019 full year commitment will approximate Levy\u2019s, a Health NZ spokeswoman declined to estimate Davies\u2019 likely time commitment in the role and said \u201ca specific number of working days\u201d has not been calculated.<\/p>\n

Davies did not respond to questions emailed by the Herald, including how he will fit the hospital build work, potentially 130 days or more, around his fulltime job as group chief executive of the private conglomerate Todd Corporation.<\/p>\n

\"EvanEvan Davies is group chief executive at Todd Corporation, a role he will juggle with being Crown manager of the Dunedin hospital new build. Photos \/ Brett Phibbs<\/p>\n

Guideline pay scales for members of most public bodies (not covered by the Remuneration Authority and excluding state-owned enterprises) are outlined in the Cabinet Fees Framework and were increased last year after not being updated for some years.<\/p>\n

The framework does not anticipate the specific role of Crown manager but the highest daily fee it recommends is $1645. <\/p>\n

Davies work as Crown manager is to oversee the build and delivery of the New Dunedin Hospital inpatient facilities and ensure all necessary measures are in place so that contractual terms are met (the more straightforward outpatient buildings are expected to be completed this year). <\/p>\n

Davies was appointed by Health Minister Simeon Brown in June last year and reports to Brown, with a particular responsibility to flag problems.<\/p>\n

Asked to explain Davies\u2019 fee and, in particular, the increase from previous roles, Brown said the \u201cremuneration aligns with the responsibilities and expectations of the role, and most importantly, ensures the project gets built\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the previous Government failed to secure a construction contract, despite repeated promises, and since appointing Davies as Crown manager one has now been signed.<\/p>\n

He said the new build is a \u201ckey priority\u201d for the Government and is \u201con track\u201d.<\/p>\n

Davies\u2019 job is the second such role the Government has created to tighten its grip on the country\u2019s main health services provider, Health NZ, which is responsible for the new hospital build. <\/p>\n

\"HealthHealth Minister Simeon Brown has appointed a Crown manager of the New Dunedin Hospital build and a Crown observer on the Health NZ board to strengthen his grip on health services and infrastructure delivery. Photo \/ Mark Mitchell<\/p>\n

Last July, Brown appointed Hamiora Bowkett as Crown observer to the Health NZ board, then newly re-established after a year of more direct control by Levy as commissioner<\/a> with three deputies.<\/p>\n

Bowkett also reports directly to Brown. <\/p>\n

Health NZ is governed by its own board, which generally puts it at arm\u2019s length from the minister, notwithstanding the year of commissioner governance.<\/p>\n

The agency has struggled since its formation in mid-2022 through the amalgamation of the country\u2019s district health boards.<\/p>\n

Its financial management is widely considered poor<\/a> and spending last year was in deep deficit; it also has specialist staff shortages and patients are subject to long wait times for treatment.<\/p>\n

Davies\u2019 Crown manager appointment was made under provisions in the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022 on the grounds that the scale of the New Dunedin Hospital project poses a risk to the operation or long-term viability of Health NZ.<\/p>\n

The new build is already hundreds of millions of dollars over its original $1.4 billion budget, set under the previous Labour Government, and a range of reviews and reports in recent years have found deficiencies in project oversight, governance and the focus on delivery. <\/p>\n

The first (indicative) business case for the plan was produced under the former National Government in 2017.<\/p>\n

Current Government ministers paused the project in 2024, paring the scope and the cost<\/a>, before restarting it with a new budget of $1.88b. They have repeatedly blamed Labour for the project\u2019s troubles.<\/p>\n

An election late this year means there is considerable political pressure to ensure completion and first use, expected in 2030 and 2031 respectively, are not further delayed and that the current budget is not blown.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s health spokeswoman Ayesha Verrall said the Government has done little but recklessly interrupt the new hospital build.<\/p>\n

\u201cIronically they have now returned to the same site, plan and Crown manager as appointed by Labour in Government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Of Davies\u2019 fee, Verrall said: \u201cIt shows how out of touch Christopher Luxon is that he thinks nurses only deserve a 1% raise for their work, yet Crown managers are getting $2500 a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davies has extensive commercial experience. He was the former head of Todd Corporation\u2019s land and property development business and is now chief executive to the whole conglomerate. He has also served in public sector, build-related roles including as chairman of the Ministry of Health\u2019s Capital Investment Committee. <\/p>\n

The cost and extent of his work as Crown manager raised no concerns with the key public service union the Public Service Association. <\/p>\n

National secretary Fleur Fitzsimons told the Herald: \u201cThe New Dunedin Hospital is sorely needed in the Otago community. We\u2019d like to see everything possible done to make sure the new build is completed on time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kate MacNamara is a South Island-based journalist with a focus on policy, public spending and investigations. She spent a decade at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before moving to NZ. She joined the Herald in 2020.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cabinet paper suggests Davies\u2019 Crown manager fees will line up with those of Health NZ chairman Lester…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[104554,3269,138,6727,10808,5981,100781,5972,5499,3072,6788,139316,25349,71,2241,93,13102,130,111,16652,139,69,45644,5351,13181,3599,418,131],"class_list":["post-240229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-104554","tag-build","tag-business","tag-cabinet","tag-crown","tag-daily","tag-davies","tag-day","tag-doubles","tag-drawing","tag-dunedin","tag-evan","tag-fee","tag-from","tag-hospital","tag-manager","tag-managers","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-newly","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-paper","tag-previous","tag-released","tag-roles","tag-shows","tag-than"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}