Brown blocks reappointment of Medical Council leaders against its own recommendation

Health Minister Simeon Brown has declined to reappoint Medical Council chair Dr Rachelle Love and deputy chair Simon Watt, despite the Council backing their reappointment. Brown said the regulator risked becoming sidetracked by politics and ideology. The decision breaks with convention that a council's recommendation should carry weight, and health professionals warn it sets a precedent for ministerial interference in an independent statutory body.