Two new appointments to the Medical Council raise an obvious question and competing issues around free speech, writes Henry Oliver in today\u2019s excerpt from The Bulletin.<\/p>\n
To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday,\u00a0sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This morning,\u00a0The Post\u2019s Andrea Vance<\/a>\u00a0reported that Roderick Mulgan \u2013 a former Free Speech Union chair who remains a board member and now serves as its international director \u2013 was named alongside three others in health minister Simeon Brown\u2019s latest round of appointments to the Medical Council.<\/p>\n The fact that he is one of two FSU-linked figures among just four new appointments to the Medical Council raises an obvious question: why has an organisation supposedly focused on free expression started turning up on the body that regulates doctors?<\/p>\n The first appointment<\/p>\n Mulgan follows Monday\u2019s appointment,\u00a0also reported by Vance<\/a>, of Manoja Kalupahana, the previously anonymous X commentator known as Momo, whose case had already made her a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre for the FSU. In 2023, her anonymous social media posts triggered a workplace complaint and media inquiry that never resulted in a published story, but became a rallying point for the union, which argued it showed how health professionals could face consequences for lawful opinions expressed outside work.<\/p>\n As reported yesterday by\u00a0The Post\u2019s Luke Malpass<\/a>, when Vance emailed Brown\u2019s office questions about the appointment process \u2013 not about whether Kalupahana\u2019s views should disqualify her, but about what background checks and consultation had occurred \u2013 the FSU issued a press release accusing her of a \u201cmuckraking campaign\u201d within about two hours, before Brown himself had responded.<\/p>\n A pattern of wider influence or just a defence of principle?<\/p>\n In today\u2019s story, Vance reported that Mulgan and Kalupahana both lobbied Brown directly as part of an FSU delegation in May 2025. That meeting covered the FSU\u2019s concerns about conscience rights in healthcare and cases before the disciplinary tribunal \u2013 the same issues the appointments will now be involved in. Vance also noted overlapping links between the FSU and figures in Brown\u2019s political circle, including a former FSU chief executive who once worked for Brown, and a senior press secretary who previously worked for another Taxpayers\u2019 Union-affiliated group.<\/p>\n FSU chairperson Stephen Franks rejected any suggestion of coordination, saying in a statement (also\u00a0reported on by The Post<\/a>) that the appointment came as a \u201cwelcome surprise\u201d and denying the union had lobbied for it. He argued deciding which lawful opinions are compatible with public service isn\u2019t a role that belongs to the press, and dismissed The Post\u2019s reporting as \u201ctripe\u201d.<\/p>\n Luxon is\u00a0\u201ccompletely relaxed\u201d about it<\/p>\n